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Question No. 1
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Reply by the Chief Secretary, Sir Philip Haddon-Cave, to a question in the Legislative Council from the
Hon. J.J. Swaine on 9 January 1985
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Question:
4.2411
In connection with the statement made by Sir Geoffrey Howe in the House of Commons on 5th December 1984 when the Hong Kong Agreement was debated, that legislation would be brought forward early in 1985 to provide for termination of sovereignty in 1997, and to provide powers to make other changes to the law, including the nationality law, would the Administration please make a statement on how much powers are to be provided, the means by which such powers are to be exercised, and what safeguards there are to ensure due publicity and debate before enactment : further would the Hong Kong Government urge HMG to ensure that all such proposed changes to the law, including the nationality law, are fully publicised both in the UK and Hong Kong well before their introduction so that representations may be made if necessary?
Reply :
HKK 040/2
The statement to which Mr. Swaine refers as having been made by the Secretary of State, Sir Geoffrey Howe, read
as follows
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and I quote :
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"Following signature, we shall bring forward legislation early next year to provide for termination of sovereignty in 1997, and to provide powers to make other changes to the law, including the nationality law, which will be necessary in connection with the Agreement and termination of sovereignty.'
"
As the legislation will be an Act of the British Parliament, I am not in a position to anticipate its contents. But I can assure Mr. Swaine that, in accordance with Parliamentary procedure, the proposed legislation will be published in the form of a Bill upon its introduction into Parliament. This will be followed after an interval by the normal process
of public debate in both Houses, and there will be opportunities for representations to be made by people in Hong Kong if they
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