HONG KONG
DRAFT ORDER IN COUNCIL-
NOTES ON ARTICLES
F3
ARTICLE 3 : LOSS OF BRITISH DEPENDENT TERRITORIES CITIZENSHIP
1. Article 3 provides that those people identified under
Article 2(1) as BDTCs by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong will
lose that citizenship on 1 July 1997.
2. The UK Memorandum associated with the Joint Declaration refers
to people who are such by virtue of a connection with Hong Kong.
Paragraph 2(1) of the Schedule to the Hong Kong Act 1985 follows this
wording. The provisions of Article 3 will therefore apply not only
to persons whose BDTC status derives solely from a connection with
Hong Kong; but also to persons whose BDTC status derives partly from
a connection with Hong Kong and partly from a connection with another
dependent territory. Such persons are regarded as having a connection
with Hong Kong for the purposes of the Order.
3. The wording of Article 3 ensures that its provisions do not apply
to those who derive their status as a BDTC not only through a
connection with Hong Kong, but also with an entirely separate
connection with another dependent territory. Such people will retain
their BDT citizenship by virtue of that other connection. For example,
a person born on or after 1 January 1983 in Bangkok to a father who
was born in Hong Kong and a mother who was born in Gibraltar will
not lose his BDTC status because he has a separate avenue through
his mother.
4.
The logic is that if a person can only claim to be a BDTC by in
some way relying on his connection with Hong Kong, then that connection
should not continue to maintain his BDTC status after 1 July 1997.
F.3
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