TNAG-1409-FCO40-1885-Future-of-Hong-Kong--localisation--of-UK-legislation-applica-1985 — Page 32

EXPLANATORY NOTES TO

HONG KONG BILL

ANNEX B

Modification of Laws

16. When a dependent territory becomes independent it is customary for the Independence Bill to provide for the continu- ation, as the law of the newly independent state, of all UK laws which previously applied in the colony: see e.g. Section 3 of the Belize Act 1981. In the same Act Schedule 1 enabled the legislature of the independent Belize to repeal or amend those laws, free from the restraints of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, and to legislate with extra-territorial effect. Schedule 2 made consequential amendments not affecting the law of Belize, to various UK statutes.

17.

and

These matters will need to be dealt with in different ways in the case of Hong Kong. Under the terms of Annex I (II) to the Joint Declaration the laws of Hong Kong are to survive the termination of British sovereignty in 1997, provided they do not contravene the Basic Law. It will be for the Basic Law, and not the Bill, to provide for this continuation of laws. The Basic Law will not be drafted by the Chinese for some years to come, but it is reasonable to assume that it will require the removal from Hong Kong statute book of any laws which appear to maintain links with the United Kingdom. For this reason, in order to avoid massive and dramatic changes in the law on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong proposes to embark at once upon a legislative programme, the object of which will be to establish, under local ordinance, a set of self-contained Hong Kong laws. They will thus gradually replace those UK statutes and subordinate UK legislation which at present apply as part of the law of Hong Kong. For this purpose it will be necessary for Hong Kong to have the power, between 1985 and 1997, to legislate in a manner which is inconsistent with the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865 and to legislate with extra-territorial effect. It will need to be given much the same powers as Belize has by virtue of paragraphs 1-3 of Schedule I to the Belize Act 1981, although from 1985 to 1997 any new Hong Kong laws will continue to be subject to disallowance by HMG in the UK and be subject to the other controls imposed by the letters Patent and Royal Instructions unless and until those controls should be abolished or changed.

18.

The United Kingdom will also need to be able to make consequential amendments to the law of the United Kingdom, e.g. to abolish the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to hear appeals from the Courts of Hong Kong. Another example is in the field of civil aviation. It has been agreed that Hong Kong should have a large degree of autonomy in civil aviation matters in the period up to 1997. In particular it has been decided that airlines such as Cathay Pacific should no longer be required to obtain an air transport licence from the Civil Aviation Authority under Section 64 of the Civil Aviation Act 1982. It will thus be necessary to amend section 64 (2) of that Act to provide that "relevant overseas territory"

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