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Similarly, the Court of Appeal decided, in February 1993, to uphold the special investigatory powers of the Securities and Futures Commission under Section 33 of the SFC Ordinance.
Finally, there is, of course, the well-known case of the AG v Lee Kwong Kut (1993), concerning the Drug Trafficking (Recovery of Proceeds) Ordinance, where the Privy Council said that in order to maintain the balance between the individual and the society as a whole, rigid and inflexible standards should not be imposed on the legislature's attempts to resolve the problems of dealing with serious crime.
These are only examples. But they do demonstrate that the protection of human rights in Hong Kong has contributed to a healthy development of jurisprudence rather than led to any uncertainty.
The Six Ordinances
The PWC's proposals to restore six Ordinances to an earlier form would mean the revival of legislation which we have found to be inconsistent with the BORO and therefore with the ICCPR. This would be a retrograde step and would bring the Ordinances into conflict with Article 39 of the Basic Law. In particular, the PWC proposals would mean:
* the readoption of obsolete emergency powers from the nineteen fifties and sixties which are unsuited to any situation which could arise in today's society;
* reinstating executive powers to pre-censor television and radio broadcasts:
* replacing the system of advance notification of public processions with the
old requirement to obtain a licence;
* removing the right to appeal over the prohibition or imposition of conditions
on public meetings or processions;
* prohibiting once more, the use of loudhailers in processions;
* restoring the old system of registering societies.