Ms Paris HKD
From:
Miss S Brooks
Legal Counsellor
Date:
2 July 1993
(39
40
AMENDMENTS TO THE LETTERS PATENT AND COLONIAL REGULATIONS
Letters Patent Amendments
1. I attach a copy of the Letters Patent which I have drafted to incorporate amendments to Article XVI consequential upon the Judicial Officers (Tenure of Office) Bill. I will arrange for it to be printed. Please fax it to Hong Kong Government for their comments. I would like their comments by close of play on Tuesday, 6 July. This should give enough time for me to submit the draft Letters Patent to our Legal Adviser and for a submission to Ministers. Documents have to be with the Privy Council by 5.00pm on Wednesday, 14 July. I hope no reprinting will be necessary, but this schedule should also allow for any necessary reprinting.
2.
Mrs Regina Ip's letter of 14 April 1992 sets out the draft amendment prepared by the Hong Kong Government to Article XVI of the Letters Patent. I have slightly redrafted their proposed amendment to make it closer to the existing Article XVI and I have also reordered the list in their draft paragraph 2. Please point this out to Hong Kong Government.
Would you please also ask them if the coming into operation provision is satisfactory to them; obviously the Letters Patent and the Ordinance should come into force together. You should point out that there will be quite a gap between approval of the Letters Patent at the Privy Council and signature; this may be
several months.
3.
One other point you should make to Hong Kong is that these Letters Patent will be referred to as the Letters Patent 1993 (No. 2). Is this reference satisfactory to Hong Kong? The Letters Patent which were put to the April Privy Council were not referred to as the Letters Patent 1993 (No. 1) because it was not certain that any more Letters Patent would be made this year. It would, in my view, be wrong to refer to the draft Letters Patent as the Letters Patent 1993 (No. 1) because of the existence of the earlier Letters Patent made this year.
4.
I wonder whether it would be possible to rearrange for the reprinting of the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions to bring them up to date. Since they were last printed, there have been three further amending Letters Patent and two further amending Royal Instructions. I have annotated my copy with manuscript amendments, but it is rather hard to follow.
/Colonial
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