TNAG-1845-FCO40-2620-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1989 — Page 96

1989-03-23 13:37 0.1.S

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Could we move on from that particular the question of Executive. Legislative and independent Judicial and the issue which we discussed earlier with the Secretary of of where final legal authority of adjudication power lies..

set

to

State

Hong

or

it.

Peter Temple-Morris: Executive. legislative and independent judicial ir. Dower

although the other two elements very much come in to What I would like to ask the Governor really is. bearing this in mind,

of let us relate it to certain articles of the Basic Law in the light the Joint Declaration. The Joint Declaration stipulated that the

with executive. Kong Special Administrative Region would be vested

of final legislative and independent judicial power including that

would remain adjudication. The laws currently in force in Hong Kong

basically. basically unchanged -- the emphasis of course is upon And it is a fair observation to say that any law, be it Basic Law anything else, is alright until the lawyers or politicians get to

to take You So it

is with that sort of background that I want now

to ask through three articles really. and not in any great detail,

article 157 and also Article 19 your comments upon them. Article 159 which I think is rather an important one. As far as Article 159 of the in basic draft law is concerned, it provides that the laws previously

except for force in Hong Kong shall be adopted as law of the region those which the Standing Committee of the National People's declares to be inconsistent with this law. So everything is OK

And what I want the committee

The NPC declares otherwise.

Joint Declaration simply ask you is how consistent is that with the and its intentions.

Of

:

Congress unless

Governor:

That is entirely consistent with the

wording

of the Joint Declaration.

particular there W&5 basically

C:

So, you don't see that there is any conflict there. You don't think that perhaps which I especially drew your attention to earlier on could be slightly strained if the committee judicially ?

suddenly

decides

to

exercise

itself

Governor:

.

People's

allowed

The Standing Committee of the National

been carried over Congress if it was ruling that a law. which had

with let's say to the 1st July 1997 time of the SAR, was inconsistent

went the Basic Law would in my reading of the draft of the Basic Law. first to take the advice of the Basic Law Committee which is

that committee being composed for in the draft to thẻ Basic Law half people from Hong Kong recommended by the Chief executive, Justice and the President of the Legislature and including people with legal experience from Hong Kong. so it's that sort of process. it

of Chief

I take

is

із nc

that this provision just like what's in the Joint Declaration. to ensure that when it comes to the 1st July 1997 that there hangover from our present laws which are tied for instance to the

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