TNAG-1859-FCO40-2634-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 33

18 October 1989

一九八九年十月十八日

29

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

香港立法局

MR. MARTIN LEE: Sir, bearing in mind that the police had already believed that there was sufficient evidence to charge Mr. HARRIS of incitement for the procurement of an under-age girl for unlawful sexual intercourse, would it not be in accordance with the normal practice in drawing up instructions to counsel for advice to draw the Queen's Counsel's attention specifically to that suspected offence, and then ask him to advise generally on other possible offences disclosed by the alleged facts?

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Sir, I can only repeat what happened in this actual case. All the papers were put to the Queen's Counsel, including the covering police report, and counsel was invited to advise generally as to whether there was any crime with which Mr. HARRIS could be charged.

Qualification for unconditional stay for foreign nationals

6. MR. LI asked: Will the Government inform this Council of the rationale for requiring foreign nationals to have been ordinarily resident in Hong Kong for a continuous period of not less than nine years before they can apply for unconditional stay in Hong Kong?

SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: The nine-year requirement was introduced by the Administration in 1983 in order to implement a new provision of the British Nationality Act 1981 which came into effect that year. Prior to 1983, foreign nationals in Hong Kong, or aliens in our immigration terms, could not qualify under our immigration policy for unconditional stay, regardless of how long they had been living in Hong Kong. But in the British Nationality Act 1981, a new provision was introduced whereby aliens or stateless residents in Hong Kong were allowed to apply for naturalization as Hong Kong British Dependent Territories citizens provided that they had been free from conditions of stay in the 12 months prior to their application. A modification was therefore made to our immigration policy to enable such people to qualify for unconditional stay after a period of residence in Hong Kong.

The period of nine years was laid down having regard to the need, as is normally the case, to assess intentions and security risks. In this connection, it was decided in the early 1970s that Chinese persons and British citizens should have ordinarily resided in Hong Kong for seven years or more before they could claim the right to land or unconditional stay. Foreign nationals, who were considered in the past as having close connections with Hong Kong, were given in 1983 a longer observation period of nine years.