TNAG-2289-FCO40-3293-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1991 — Page 119

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

32.

IV: FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

Section XIII of the first Annex to the Joint Declaration, which elaborates the policies of the PRC regarding basic rights and freedoms, lists a number of rights "as provided for by the laws previously in force in Hong Kong....freedom of the person, of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, to form and join trade unions, of correspondence, of travel, of movement, of strike, of demonstration, of choice of occupation, of academic research, of belief, inviolability of the home, the freedom to marry and the right to raise a family freely". It also makes specific reference to legal advice and judicial remedies and to religious questions and concludes by stating that the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights "as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force".

These policies are reflected in the Basic Law, principally in a Chapter on the fundamental rights and duties of residents, ' though certain provisions regarding legal process are set out in the Chapter which refers to the Judiciary and the provisions regarding religious institutions in a wide ranging Chapter on education, science, culture, sports, religion, labour and social services.

33. The first draft of the Chapter on fundamental rights, like other first drafts, followed closely the structure for the Basic Law prepared by the mainland Secretariat of the BLDC and, not surprisingly, it was considerably influenced

by the currently toothless [56] chapter of the PRC Constitution on fundamental rights and duties. The rights specifically listed in the Joint Declaration are set out in terms very like those in the PRC Constitution. example, like the latter, the earlier texts only prohibited

For

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