5. We believe that the agreement offers a workable basis for establishing the Court. By facilitating the setting-up of the Court before 1997, the agreement will also help to provide stability and continuity in this area through the transfer of
sovereignty. The Chinese side have made it clear there is no
prospect of altering the agreement reached. The choice is
therefore between establishing a Court on an enduring basis before
1997, or having no Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong before 1997, with uncertainty thereafter. The Hong Kong Government will decide
in due course on the draft legislation that should be put before the Legislative Council on this subject.
Bill of Rights
The
6. The Committee recommended (2.11) that the Hong Kong
Government introduce a Bill of Rights. This has been done.
Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance, which gives effect in local
law to the relevant provisions of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong, has been in
effect since June 1991. The Chinese Government have said that
they reserve the right to review the legislation in 1997.
number of ordinances, including the Immigration Ordinance, the
Societies Ordinance, the Crimes Ordinance, the Prevention of
Bribery Ordinance, the Independent Commission Against Corruption
Ordinance and the Police Force Ordinance have been amended to
bring them into line with the Bill of Rights and hence with the
International Covenant, as recommended by the Committee (2.9).
Amendments to other ordinances have been, and will be, introduced
into the Legislative Council as part of a continuing review of the
compatibility of existing legislation with the Bill of Rights. A body of local human rights jurisprudence is steadily accumulating.
The Joint Declaration provides that the International Covenant will continue to apply to Hong Kong after 1997. We have urged
China to become a Party to the Covenant. We intend to consider
with the Chinese Government how they will give effect in the Hong
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