TNAG-1717-FCO40-2397-Hong-Kong-1987-Review-of-Representative-Government-1988 — Page 127

B/RA.

SOU APP/Mrs Challer.

JUSTICE

ли Ника, нао

for advice pse. (75)

(BRITISH SECTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS)

'Адто посиће песниу

Telephone:

5-8730464

HONG KONG BRANCH

國 際

法組 織

119 053

英國分會香港分會

President of Council

The Rt Hon. The Lord Gardiner

Chairman

I R. A. MacCallum

Deputy Chairman N. Kapin Q. C.

HRB Excutive gecretary

Mis. Anhe’Godfrey

HPS/Mus Chalker

15/ Land Glenathen

Communications:

Executive Secretary

601 PRINCE'S BUILDING.

CENTRAL.

HONG KONG.

ла

E

13th January, 1988

сигис

هما

1911

Dear Mrs. Chalker:

Knowing

of your interest in Hong Kong,

the

we are writing to inform you of what the Hong Kong Branch of Justice believes to be important issues of today.

By far the most important is the need to put in place the institutions of representative government as soon as possible. Justice strongly feels that direct elections to the Legislative Council should begin in 1988, leading eventually to a fully directly elected legislature.

Second, Justice believes that, to ensure the protection of human rights, it is essential to incorporate the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural into Hong Kong's domestic law.

and the Rights

of

Third, Justice requests that all legislation incorporating racial distinctions be amended. A racial criterion ("any person who is wholly or partly of Chinese race") is in the new Immigration Ordinance (1987) as well as in half a dozen other pieces legislation, such as the Electoral Provisions Ordinance, the and Deaths Registration Ordinance and the Legal Practitioners Ordinance.

Births

Fourth, Justice seeks the withdrawal of the Film Censorship Bill, in which the government asks for the legal right to ban films for political reasons, specifically, films that in the judgment of the censor have a "likelihood" of seriously damaging good relations with "other territories," a term used to refer to China. We are opposed to censorship in general but censorship for political reasons is particularly worrying to people here.

Lastly, Justice requests the repeal of Section 27 of the Public Order Ordinance, which was enacted last March despite a wide public outcry. The law, which makes it a crime to publish "false news," has no equivalent in the United Kingdom and poses a threat to basic freedoms, especially free press and free speech.