1
CONFIDENTIAL
be possible in this context to deal, if necessary,
with the
termination of appeals to the Privy Council, including pending
cases.
5. It is thought that no other aspects of the agreed documents will require legislation by Act of Parliament. Land matters are the subject of local law and should not require United Kingdom legislation. Adaptation of subordinate legislation referring or applying to Hong Kong can be considered separately.
THE FORM OF THE LEGISLATION
6. The legislation must cover the subjects in (a) and (c) above.
There are arguments both for and against including (b) which is not
necessary as a preliminary to ratification. On the one hand to deal
with this aspect in this Act would avoid the need for a future
independent Act to amend the BNA; such an Act could give rise to
pressures in Parliament for wider amendments to the BNA unconnected
with Hong Kong. Moreover, because of the 10 year period of validity
of passports, legislation may well be necessary before 1987, to
allow passports that will extend beyond 1997 to be issued in the new
form. On the other hand there is no doubt that the nationality
provisions of this agreement are its most controversial aspects, and
there is a danger that controversy about them might delay the
legislation.
cannot afford this given the time limit for ratification which had to be written into the agreement. Probably
the best compromise would be to include in this Bill an enabling
clause allowing an Order-in-Council to be made at a later date to
set the regulations for the new form of British nationality
envisaged. But it would have to be recognised that if the presence
of such a clause in the Bill appeared likely to delay the Bill's
passage unacceptably, it would have to be dropped from the Bill.
7. The proposed Bill would deal with the subjects in paragraph 4 as
follows:
(a) The termination of sovereignty (paragraph 4(a)) in the ceded
territories could be made:
either:
/ (i)
CONFIDENTIAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.