From The Minister of State
Richard Luce MP
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
30 January 1985
HKK040/2
lll
Dear Ivan.
In my speech winding up the debate on the Second Reading of the Hong Kong Bill on 21 January, I said that I would write to those who had raised points that I felt I had not answered. You raised the question of a supreme court in Hong Kong to rule upon any conflicts between the local law and the Basic Law and the question of the future of Crown servants in Hong Kong.
The agreement provides for the power of final judgement of the SAR to be vested in the court of final appeal in the SAR. The Basic Law will be one of the laws of the Hong Kong SAR and the courts of the SAR (including of course the court of final appeal) will have to decide cases in accordance with these laws. The key point is that the Basic Law must stipulate those Chinese policies for Hong Kong which are set out in the agreement. It will be approved by the Chinese National People's Congress, and no doubt those who draft it will ensure that there is no conflict between the Basic Law and other Chinese laws.
As you said, the question of the future of Crown Servants in Hong Kong is a very sensitive one. As Janet Young said in the House of Lords on 10 December, in certain limited cases certain rights of admission
will exist at the discretion
of the Home Secretary. These will be on a very limited basis for people who are exposed to special considerations and special factors. I hope that you will be satisfied by my assurance that the Government had this subject very much in mind.
т
Rail
Ivan Lawrence Esq QC MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A OAA
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