TNAG-1580-FCO40-2154-Extension-to-Hong-Kong-of-European-Community--European-Free-1987 — Page 76

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made that we might end up with an unworkable network of treaty obligations, I would think it right no longer to press this point.

The other issue on which I would be grateful for your views is the question of declarations of extension to dependent territories. The UK is being supported on this point by Denmark, Spain and Portugal (the Netherlands representative - who does have an interest unfortunately does not contribute to the discussion). I suspect that your "half-way house" solution i.e. unrestricted extension to European territories and extension to territories outside subject to consent might be acceptable to the EFTA countries. Technical difficulties may arise, however, where a UK extension to an overseas dependent territory is accepted by some Contracting States to the Parallel Convention but not by others. For example, if a person domiciled in state A is sued in the courts of State B's dependent territory on a head of jurisdiction given by Article 16, what is the position where enforcement is sought in state C which has not accepted state B's declaration of extension? Perhaps the courts of state C could strain the wording of Article 28 so as to refuse recognition of the judgment, since jurisdiction was based on Articles 7-16, but no such opportunity would be available if jurisdiction were based on Articles 2, 5, 6 or 17.

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Subject to your views, I would rather agree with Ian Mathers that the benefits of extending the Parallel Convention to overseas dependent territories may not be worth the complexities involved. I do not think, however, that a formula providing for lunrestricted extensions to European territories will solve

everyone's problems. At the last meeting Portugal reiterated its wish to extend the Parallel Convention to Macao and Spain said it would wish the Convention to apply to "all Spanish territory". suspect this latter formula is a means of glossing over the question of Gibraltar, but it would also cause the Convention to apply to the Canary Islands and, conceivably, the Spanish territories in North Africa. What may be needed, therefore, is a much more elaborate formula for territorial application along the lines of Article 60 of the Judgments Convention, which specifies the non-European territories to which the Convention is to apply together with a provision along the lines of Article 60 (2) for the UK.

I confess not to have considered the question of Hong Kong in any detail, but would be grateful for any views you may have. I have assumed that the UK does not now seek to extend UK legislation to Hong Kong, and it may be that we should not seek to extend the Parallel Convention. Certainly I think we would have difficulties in ensuring that Hong Kong legislation would enable the obligations of the Parallel Convention to be performed. Moreover, the Swiss preoccupation with this question is particularly concerned with problems of state succession over dependent territories.

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