5.
The provisions of the 1967 Act as applied to Hong Kong by
the 1968 Order will lapse as part of the law of Hong Kong on 30 June
will
1997. The British side therefore proposes to introduce a Bill to
localise those provisions. The localising Ordinance, if enacted,
will provide that any act or omission taking place outside Hong Kong
on board a Hong Kong-registered aircraft which, if it took place in
Hong Kong would be an offence, shall be an offence in Hong Kong,
unless the act or omission is expressly authorised by Hong Kong law
when taking place outside Hong Kong. It will also confer powers on
the commander of an aircraft to enable him to maintain the safety of
the aircraft and good order and discipline on board the aircraft,
and will make ancillary provisions including provisions relating to
evidence.
6.
The 1967 Act has been replaced for the United Kingdom by
certain sections of the Civil Aviation Act 1982 and in preparing the
localising Bill the British side will have regard to the provisions
of that Act. In its essentials, however, the Bill will reproduce
the provisions of the 1967 Act as applied to Hong Kong by the 1968
Order.
7.
The 1967 Act, as applied to Hong Kong, recognises that the
Convention on the High Seas, signed at Geneva on 29 April 1958, as
to piracy is declaratory of customary international law and
accordingly provides that domestic courts should follow the
definition of piracy in the Convention. The Chinese side will be