TNAG-2490-FCO40-3622-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Basic-Law-1992 — Page 166

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ner Bunteer Ma

Reference.

28

It sounds to me any pre-1997 the Standing Committee CMor the NPC could amend the decision on the first legislative & the Annex on subsequent ones, provided they did not

contravene the banc pricples of the Bh. The main AMENDING THE BASIC LAW principle relevant is the long term objective of full

dvect elechom.

ملاله

214

3169 the Wye, RAD

(minus Barrett) Ar. Miss Brook5/4gel

Please refer to your minute of 29 May to Miss Brooks. As I understand it, the question of the procedures for amending the Basic Law are laid down in Article 159. This states that:

1.

The power of amendment of this Law shall be vested in the National People's Congress.

The power to propose bills for amendments to this Law shall be vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's congress, the State Council and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Amendment bills from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall be submitted to the National People's Congress by the delegation of the Region to the National People's Congress after obtaining the consent of of two thirds of the deputies of the Region to the National People's Congress, two thirds of all the members of the Legislative Council of the Region and the Chief Executive of the Region.

Before a bill for amendment of this Law is put on the agenda of the National People's Congress, the Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall study it and submit its views.

No amendment to this Law shall contravene the established basic policies of the People's Republic of China regarding Hong Kong.

2. Under present circumstances, the two main obstacles to amending the Basic Law in accordance with these procedures are firstly that the Basic Law does not come into force until 1 July 1997, and secondly that the "Committee of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" does not exist. The absence of this Committee means that bills for amendment of the Law cannot be properly scrutinised. Both these questions are covered by "Decisions" of the National people's Congress which were adopted on 4 April 1990, at the same time as the Basic Law (and which were published with it). The Decision relating the establishment of the Committee of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong SAR contained an appendix with its proposed composition. The Hong Kong members of the Committee were to be nominated jointly by the Chief Executive, President of the Legislative Council and Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal. Obviously before the establishment of the SAR itself, such officers could not exist and thus could not nominate members of the Committee.

3.

It would seem at least theoretically possible that these two decisions of the National People's Congress could be amended in such a way as to allow amendment of the Basic Law before 1997. This, as a Chinese commentary published in the Hong Kong Ta Kung Pao on 29 May, is essentially the question as there is no

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