unwer either option the Covenant would not be fully implemented in Hong Kong: there would be certain areas (particularly in discrimination) in which Government would not have afforded citizens protection against other citizens.
relation
27
Option (c) would require further consideration, by the Law Reform Commission or воде which
other body, of those areas in further protection is needed. option
The disadvantages of this are that any announcement inevitably
of a further study would be linked by the Chinese side with the imperfect implementation of the International Covenant Political
on Civil and Rights in Hong Kong and thus cause further problems with them. Moreover, such a study is likely to generate much pressure for introducing anti-discrimination legislation in Hong Kong, the need and desirability of which still requires detailed study given the attendant social, economic and legal implications. The complex nature of the issues involved in discrimination is borne out by our current possible application
study of the of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
Discrimination against Women to Hong Kong. An approach to the Law Reform Commission or the formation of a high-profile working group at this stage would therefore be premature and Commission may
In any event, the ποτ be an appropriate body for such a study, given that it would raise questions that are fundamentally political and economic, rather than legal.
28
pre-emptive.
We favour option (d), because consider
it gives us time to how best to address outstanding issues and to then даке a conscious policy decision .on the anti-discrimination legislation in Hong Kong.
referred
Political
instrument.
introduction of The problems This option
to in paragraph 27 might be avoided. could theoretically weaken our argument vis-a-vis the Chinese for the need to implement International Covenant on Civil and Rights provisions in one single legislative
But
without inter-citizen rights, the Bill the effect of the incorporation of the Covenant into the laws of
Hong Kong, and we could point out to them that in Bost other countries where this has been done it has not been thought necessary to include inter-citizen rights. In effect,
still has
the exclusion of all inter-citizen rights recognizes the existing situation where in practice we have not so far created inter-citizen rights in discharging our obligations under the More importantly, the Chinese side are also likely take note of the concerns of the business community and to feel that the change is for the better.
Covenant.
to
29.
Our assessment is that the exclusion of inter-citizen rights from the Bill altogether would be acceptable to the Ad Нос Group given their previous stance (paragraphs 13 and 22 refer). The Convenor of the Group has expressed in private her
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