TNAG-1022-FCO40-1272-Relations-between-Hong-Kong-and-the-United-Nations-1981 — Page 86

CONFIDENTIAL

a means of redress for individuals is already available in

the European Convention on Human Rights. Since the United

Kingdom accepts Article 25 of this Convention, all persons or

groups, wherever resident and of whatever nationality have

the right of recourse to the European Commission on Human Rights

if they consider that their rights, as set out in the Convention,

have been infringed by the government of the UK. Moreover the

Optional Protocol compares unfavourably in a number of respects

with the European Convention (there is no provision for oral

hearings, the procedure used is not a judicial one, no time

limit is imposed on complaints and there is no provision for

excluding those that are 'manifestly ill-founded' ie frivolous).

(57)

CONFIDENTIAL