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necessary the matter submitted to the Secretary of State.
5. There is also the question which I have raised on previous occasions of whether we should, now that Hong Kong will have a majority of elected members, use the power under the Hong Kong Act 1985 to exclude the application of the second half of section 5 of the Colonial Laws Validity Act which enables an elected Legislature to vary its own composition by ordinance. All the papers on this issue, as of the reserved power issue, are on your files.
If we decided that we should go ahead and amend the Colonial Laws Validity Act, this would have to be done under the 1985 Act as a separate exercise but it would be convenient to do it at the same Council as we take the amended Letters Patent.
6. There is also, as you have noted, the need to include a provision for the Bill of Rights if we are to avoid having to have two amending Letters Patent in such a short period of time. Finally, on the Letters Patent, I will tidy up the draft when we know the answers to the more substantive questions raised above.
Additional Instructions
7. Paragraph 2: There is no need for this amendment; it is unnecessary to update the provision.
8. Paragraph 4: I don't understand the suggestion that this clause be repealed. Appointed members will be retained and this clause applies to appointed members. As regards the question in paragraph 2 of your minute, the clause does not apply to ex officio members, but there is no need for it to do so. The reference to ex officio members in the Letters Patent is not to the substantive holder of the office but to the persons for the time being lawfully discharging the office. Once you make an Acting Chief Secretary he sits in LegCo.
9.
Paragraph 7(2): I don't really like the provision that the appointment of the Deputy President may be "disallowed". If there is to be a Secretary of State function in regard to the Deputy President it should be exercised before appointment; see, for example, Article VI (2) of the Letters
Patent.
7?
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Paul Fifoot
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