TNAG-2325-FCO40-3369-Hong-Kong-Bill-of-Rights-policy-1991 — Page 115

CONFIDENTIAL

THE BINDING EFFECT OF THE BOR

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The new proposal is that the BOR should not bind

the private sector. The question is what bodies and

persons, other than the Government, should be bound by the

BOR ? As we see it, when re-defining the scope of the

operation of the BOR you will wish to consider the following matters: legal certainty, implementation of the

ICCPR, business concerns, 1997 concerns and the China

angle. The following options list is meant to make clear

some of the issues involved in defining and limiting the

scope of the BOR. The options are not meant to be mutually

exclusive and you should therefore consider combining some

of them.

Option 1: The Schedule Approach

2.

The BOR could have a clause which states simply

that it binds the government and the public bodies

identified in a schedule to the ordinance. This is the

approach taken in the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance

("POB"). The Schedule under section 2(1) of the POB

includes some 50 bodies. The Governor in Council may by

order amend the Schedule which includes bodies as diverge

ac the Vegetable Marketing Organization and the "Star"

Ferry Company,

3.

The advantage to this approach is that it

ensures a high degree of legal certainty because bodies

which are not included in the schedule would be outside the

ncupe of the BOR.

CONFIDENTIAL