CONFIDENTIAL
VERY URGENT BY HAND
Entrenchment of the Bill of Rights
Introduction
1.
At the Government House meeting 8 December I mentioned briefly the legal difficulties over the latest proposal to entrench the Bill of Rights. to provide you with an opinion on this subject.
2.
I undertook
It is virtually taken for granted in modern societies that a Bill of Rights is a special kind of law which is supreme over other laws and which has a This measure of permanence which they do not enjoy. is inherent in the concept of protecting basic human rights from the popular passions of the moment or from the random abuse of governmental powers. Also inherent is the principle that the courts will be able to protect individual rights against repressive laws or official action by applying the supreme law of the Bill of Rights. If a Bill of Rights can be easily changed by ordinary laws, or ignored without the opportunity for judicial enforcement, then it is almost meaningless.
3.
Our announcements to date have conveyed a strong impression that ours would be an effective Bill of Rights. In your address of 11 October you noted the strong support in the community for ICCPR freedoms to be entrenched, and you confirmed the preparation of a Bill of Rights which would allow anyone to seek redress in the courts. This of course was in accord with the decisions of ExCo of 20 and 26 September that
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