TNAG-2443-FCO40-3550-Official-Secrets-Act-1989-(Hong-Kong)-Order-1992-1992 — Page 226

|HKA 440/1

на

15

Tele sent (766)

144

FROM:

Mr tóne

HKD

Miss S Brooks

Legal Counsellor

DATE:

8 May 1992

- Noced

WEA.M

Bu Love wel's pls.

M

1115

OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT 1989: ORDER IN COUNCIL

1.

Reminder tele

send on 18/5.

I have now finalised the draft Order, subject to any further comments from the Hong Kong Government. A first print of the Order already exists but I have made a number of changes to it, largely to reflect earlier points agreed with the Hong Kong Government and in particular, I have added a new Schedule. The revised draft Order will be sent for printing today. We agreed yesterday that it would be useful to the Hong Kong Government to have a look at the revised draft, even with the manuscript changes, rather than wait for the printed version. This is enclose, I suggest you fax it to them. I will pass you the printed version as soon as I receive it.

2.

The second Schedule which I have added to the Order sets out the Act, modified to reflect the changes required by the Hong Kong Government. I have done this in order to reflect the concerns to do with gazetting and translating, set out in Hong Kong telno 972 of 2 April 1992. The ir concerns can be treated with some scepticism; they had not mentioned problems to do with gazetting and translating in all the previous correspondence. In any case given, for example, the Copyright (Hong Kong) Order 1972 S1 No 1724 precedent which merely set out amendments to the relevant Act but did not include the modified Act in the Order, the Hong Kong Government must have come across this problem be fore. However, to stop them wingeing and at the same time to try and avoid potential problems with the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments, it seems best to have two Schedules. The first one still sets out the individual amendments to the Act which are needed by the Hong Kong Government. This is the form which the Counsel to the Speaker of the House of Commons maintains is required because the 'vires' (Official Secrets Act 1989, Section 15(3)) under which the Order will be made states that the Act shall extend with such exceptions, adaptions and modifications as maybe specified in the Order. He has taken the view that the word 'specify' requires amendments to the Act to be expressly set out in an Order. Since he assists the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments which has the

1815

AELANW