prohibited from affecting the right of voters to choose freely
their elected representatives without distinction on account of
race, sex, language, religion and other grounds.
4.
Inclusion of certain fundamental rights guaranteed by the Covenants
The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Bill 1990 fails to
alleviate the concern expressed in the Law Group's June
memorandum regarding the omission of a number of rights
applicable to Hong Kong. The Bill also continues to contain
certain reservations inappropriate and inconsistent with the Bill
of Rights' mandate.
The Draft Bill of Rights completely omits rights
guaranteed in the ICESCR, even those which are capable of
enforcement in the courts through equitable or monetary relief.
Such rights would include the right to education, the right to
free choice of employment and equal pay, the right to just and
favorable conditions of work, the right to academic freedom and
the right to social welfare. By neglecting to include the ICESCR
rights, the UK Government is defaulting on its obligation to
apply the ICESCR in Hong Kong under article 2(1) of the ICESCR.
As stated in the Law Group's June memorandum, the
reservations provisions in Part III of the Bill of Rights are
inappropriate and inconsistent with certain fundamental rights in
the ICCPR. Although the reservations are based upon the UK's
reservations to the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong, there is no
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