allegations that the Covenant has been broken. Apart from the possibility (which may be remote) of a complaint against us by another State Party, there is a risk that, as a result of pressures from Justice or others, the Committee referred to in Article 40 would decide to call upon the UK to submit a report.
8. We also considered the possibility of seeking to disengage ourselves from our obligations under the Covenant in respect of Hong Kong. There would be considerable difficulty, however, in that course. We could in any event only disengage if all the parties to the Covenant were willing to acquiesce and even then we could not relieve the UK of its liability for breaches of the Covenant which had already occurred. There would no doubt be political difficulties too. This does not, therefore, seem to be
a very real option.
24 September 1982
cc: Mr Freeland
Mr Edwards
7. Burrows
F Burrows
Legal Counsellor
CONFIDENTIAL
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