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060713 MDHIA 988
ON THE REVERSAL RATE OF HONG KONG CASES BY THE JCPC OVER VARIOUS PERIODS, WHICH INDICATED THAT HONG KONG'S RECORD, IN TERMS OF SECURING AFFIRMATION OF OUR COURTS' JUDGEMENTS BY THE JCPC
(A SUCCESS RATE OF 78 PER CENT IN 1990) WAS AS GOOD AS THAT OF
THE ENGLISH (55 PER CENT) AND OTHER JURISDICTIONS.
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ALL SIX EXECUTIVE COUNCILLORS WHO ARE MEMBERS OF LEGCO SPOKE IN THE DEBATE. BOTH ALLEN LEE AND RITA FAN SAID THAT THEY SUPPORTED THE EARLY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CFA: REGARDED THE JLG
AGREEMENT AS WORKABLE: AND OPPOSED THE MOTION. THE FOUR NEWLY
APPOINTED EXCO MEMBERS ALL SPOKE IN SUPPORT OF IP'S MOTION BUT WITH RESERVATIONS. SELINA CHOW EXPLAINED THAT, AS A NEWLY APPOINTED EXCO MEMBER, SHE WAS NOT A PARTY TO EXCO'S EARLIER ENDORSEMENT OF THE JLG AGREEMENT. EDWARD HO SUPPORTED THE MOTION WITH THE RESERVATION THAT HE WOULD LIKE TO SEE EARLY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CFA: WHILE BOTH ANDREW WONG AND HUI YIN-FAT
CRITICISED THE TIMING OF IP'S MOTION. DESPITE THEIR QUALIFIED SUPPORT, NEITHER WONG NOR HUI TOOK PART IN THE VOTING.
5. ALL THE PRO-CHINA MEMBERS (TAM YIU-CHUNG, PHILIP WONG, NGAI SHIU-KIT, STEPHEN CHEONG, CHIM PUI-CHUNG AND LAU WONG-FAT) SPOKE AGAINST THE MOTION. MANY EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT THE
REPERCUSSIONS OF THE MOTION FOR SINO-BRITISH RELATIONS. THE UDHK MEMBERS PREDICTABLY ATTACKED THE JLG AGREEMENT AS A SIGNIFICANT BREACH AND CURTAILMENT OF THE POWERS ENSHRINED IN THE JD, AND ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF SINO-BRITISH COLLUSION TO ERODE HONG KONG'S AUTONOMY. AMONG THE ''INDEPENDENT'' MEMBERS (IE. THOSE NOT BELONGING TO UDHK OR THE CO-OPERATIVE RESOURCES CENTRE), JIMMY MCGREGOR (ELECTED REPRESENTED OF THE HONG KONG GENERAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE) URGED RENEGOTIATION WITH CHINA AND CLAIMED THAT MAJOR INVESTORS WHOM HE HAD SPOKEN TO REGARDED THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE FUTURE CFA AS A PRIME CONSIDERATION. MANY OF THE MEMBERS WHO OPPOSED THE MOTION OR ABSTAINED FROM VOTING WERE, HOWEVER, FROM THE BUSINESS SECTORS. HOWARD YOUNG, ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE OF THE TOURISM CONSTITUENCY, POINTED OUT IN HIS SPEECH THAT NOT A SINGLE BUSINESSMAN HE HAD SPOKEN TO REGARDED THE NEED FOR GREATER FLEXIBILITY AS OF SUCH CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE AS TO WARRANT CONFRONTING CHINA. OTHER MEMBERS WHO SPOKE GENERALLY SUPPORTED THE EARLY ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CFA AND THE NEED TO ENSURE THE QUALITY OF THE CFA JUDGES.
COMMENT
6.
THE DEBATE PROCEEDED ON PREDICTABLE LINES. THE NUMBER OF
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