CONFIDENTIAL
In
with the United Kingdom.
order therefore to avoid massive
changes in the law on 1 July 1997 Hong Kong proposes to embark at once upon a legislative programme to "localise" Hong Kong's laws and
establish a set of self-contained Hong Kong laws free from any
connection with the UK. This section of the Bill will give HMG and Hong Kong the power to achieve their objective. As part of this
process it will thus be possible for Hong Kong to adopt laws free from the restraints of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, and to
legislate with extra-territorial effect. Any new Hong Kong laws
will continue to be subject to disallowance by HMG and to other
controls imposed by the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions.
This section also enables HMG to make consequential amendments to
the law of the UK and of dependent territories which are not part of
the law of Hong Kong, but which relate to Hong Kong. This will be
necessary for instance in relation to the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council and to give a greater degree of autonomy to Hong
Kong in civil aviation matters by amending the Civil Aviation Act of
1982.
we
We do not yet know what repeals or amendments will be necessary
under each of these categories, nor will we know finally until
have seen the Basic Law. (The present intention of the Chinese
Government is to promulgate the Basic Law before 1990). therefore need the widest possible powers to make Orders in Council
under this section.
We
SO as
Paragraph 3(1) enables Her Majesty by Order in Council (or the Hong
Kong legislature if so authorised by Order in Council) to repeal or amend any UK Act, order, rule or regulation in
in so far as it is part
of the law of Hong Kong, if it appears necessary or expedient to do
a result of or in connection with the termination of
sovereignty and jurisdiction. This section will enable HMG and the
Hong Kong legislature to
legislature to localise
localise the laws of Hong Kong, in SO far
as they currently take the form of UK statutes which
form of UK statutes which apply as part of the law of Hong Kong. Although this section gives the Hong Kong
legislature the power SO to amend UK enactments, it would of course be in our hands in the case of a dispute with Hong Kong to refuse to
CONFIDENTIAL
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.