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2.
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During the passage of the Hong Kong Bill Her
Majesty's Government gave two undertakings concerning
the Parliamentary handling of the proposed Order.
The first was that it would be made within a year of
the passing of the Bill, subject only to Parliament's
own agreement (Footnote 1: Official Report: Volume
71, Number 43, Column 735: Volume 460, Number 46,
Column 484). The second was that in view of the
constitutional significance of the Order it should be
subject to more extended Parliamentary scrutiny than
the usual affirmative resolution procedure allows
(Footnote 2: Official Report: Volume 72, Number 56,
Column 1069: Volume 460, Number 46, Column 503).
Orders to be made in this way require Parliament's
positive approval, usually following a debate of one
and a half hours and cannot be amended, but merely
accepted or rejected as a whole. It is Her Majesty's
Government's intention to provide time for debates in
both Houses on this White Paper and the annexed draft
Order before the draft Order is re-presented for
approval by each House of Parliament under the
affirmative resolution procedure. Her Majesty's
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