TNAG-1439-FCO40-1923-Constitutional-development-in-Hong-Kong-1986 — Page 23

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/of the Joint Declaration

ii) of more substance, para 4(A) includes the passage "independent executive, legislative and judicial power", whereas in both para 3(3) and the second para of Section I Annex I, the word "independent" only qualifies judicial power;

iii) if appropriate changes are made to the paras dealing with the Executive, para 29 would need to be amended to refer to the "Executive Council" not "the Executive".

4. With regard to Hong Kong telno 939, I see that our suggestion that the words "Parliament and" be deleted has not been acted upon. I have thought again about this but I cannot recall any case in the present constitution of this country where a power of The Queen is in practice exercised by Parliament. One can think of a number of powers which the Crown exercised in the distant and not so distant past which it no longer enjoys (e.g. a power of separate legislation and taxation and various aspects of the judicial power) but in so far as these are exercised by Parliament (which in some but not in all respects means The Queen in Parliament) they are exercised in right of Parliament and not

by a customary or conventional exercise of an existing royal power. Perhaps Hong Kong could be asked to give instances of what they have in mind?

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Pathpur.

Paul Fifoot