TNAG-2555-FCO40-3730-Hong-Kong-Bill-of-Rights-Police-Force-(Amendment)-Bill-1992-1992 — Page 30

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CONFIDENTIAL

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Background and Argument

3.

The Police Force Ordinance is one of the six ordinances

exempted for one year from the coverage of the BOR.

Amendments to these Ordinances need to be made before 8 June

to ensure compliance with the BOR. HKG wish to submit the Police Force Ordinance (Amendment) Bill to ExCo on 19 May,

but not to brief the Chinese beforehand. Ministers have

already agreed that we should adopt a case by case approach

to the handling of the six ordinances. The Chinese do not

seem to have reacted (yet) to the publication of (fairly

minor) changes in January to two other ordinances. We did

not inform or consult them in those cases. Nor did we

consult them over amendments to the more significant

Immigration Ordinance in April. In May, the Political

Adviser in Hong Kong briefed the New China News Agency

(NCNA) on amendments to the Societies Ordinance following its approval by ExCo but before being put to LegCo. The Chinese initial reaction was surprisingly mild and we have

not yet received any further comment from them.

4.

The proposed amendments seek to modify police powers in a way compatible with the BOR and are not politically controversial. The proposals are without prejudice to the Law Reform Commission's study now underway in Hong Kong on police powers, which may recommend other (major) changes

later this year especially in the light of the UK Police and

Criminal Evidence Act 1984. Hong Kong Legal Advisers are reasonably confident that the proposals would withstand a

challenge under Article VII of the Letters Patent (which

states that the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights (ICCPR) shall be implemented through the

laws of Hong Kong), and hence the BOR which consolidates the

ICCPR. Were we to brief the Chinese, they would be bound to object, given their opposition in principle to the BOR and

KS1ACP/2

CONFIDENTIAL

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