CONFIDENTIAL
18
with the United Kingdom.
In order
therefore to avoid massive
changes in the law on 1 July 1997 Hong Kong
Hong Kong proposes to embark at
once upon a legislative programme to "localise" Hong Kong's laws and
establish а 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. A s part of this
process it will thus be possible for Hong
for Hong Kong to adopt laws free
from the restraints of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, and
1865,
legislate with extra-territorial effect. Any new Hong Kong laws
will continue to be subject to disallowance by
by HMG and to
controls imposed by the Letters Patent and Royal Instructions.
to
other
This section also enables H MG 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 deal with certain civil aviation matters by
amending the Civil Aviation Act of 1982.
We do not yet know what repeals or amendments will be necessary
under each of these categories, nor will we know finally until we
have seen the Basic Law.
intention of the Chinese
Law before 1990).
We
(The present
promulgate the Basic
therefore need the widest possible powers to make Orders in Council
Government
is to
under this section.
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 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.
SO
as
This section will enable HMG and the
Hong Kong legislature to localise the laws of Hong Kong, in SO far
as they currently take the 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
make the necessary Order
in
Council.
The power to make
to
such
CONFIDENTIAL
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