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NOTES FOR SUPPLEMENTARIES : DEFENSIVE (FOR MR RIFKIND'S WINDING-UP
SPEECH)
BASIC LAW
Drafting of Basic Law
1. Chinese have announced that Hong Kong people will sit on the
Drafting Committee for the Basic Law. This is welcome.
have said that Basic Law will be drafted by 1990.
Interpretation of Basic Law
2.
Chinese
Basic Law will be one of laws of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The courts of the SAR will be obliged to
decide cases in accordance with these laws. The power of final
judgment of the SAR will be vested in the court of final appeal in
the SAR.
NATIONALITY
Order in Council
3.
Order in Council on nationality will be introduced within one
year of passage of Hong Kong Act. This will be subject to full
debate in both Houses.
Statelessness
4. The Government's position is that no former Hong Kong British
Dependent Territories citizen nor any
child born on or after 1 July
1997 to such a person should be made stateless as a result of
amendments envisaged in Hong Kong Act. Furthermore second
generation children whose grandparents were Hong Kong BDTC before
1997 and who would otherwise be stateless will enjoy a similar
entitlement to acquire British nationality to that which they would
have had under the British Nationality if their parents had remained
BDTCS.
RATIFICATION OF THE AGREEMENT
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