Accordingly, it will be for the Governor to submit to me a draft
selection scheme
taking account, of course, of the views
expressed by Parliament to regulate fees and procedural matters
and to recommend selected individuals for citizenship. On the
other hand, the prize is to be British citizenship and for that
reason it is right that I as Home Secretary should be able to
amend the scheme before putting it to Parliament, and that the
power of registering British citizens under the Bill should also
be reserved to the Secretary of State.
The Bill provides explicitly that I shall not register a person
whom I have reason to believe is not of good character, and
authorises me to cancel citizenship acquired on false or
misleading information. The giving of such information will be
an imprisonable offence. In carrying out his responsibility for
operating the selection scheme, the Governor will be required by
the Bill to establish a committee to advise him. The Governor
intends to invite a range of respected people from the public and
private sectors to serve on this Committee and it will have an
important role in ensuring that the scheme is operated
objectively and fairly, and meets the real needs of Hong Kong.
The Bill is designed to ensure that this will be a one-off and
self-contained exercise. Existing nationality law, as set out in
the British Nationality Act 1981, will remain unaffected.
The scope of the Bill's provisions are therefore strictly
circumscribed. Only those who are settled in Hong Kong and
already have some form of British nationality, or who have an
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.