appeal to the Privy Council.
This agreement has been the subject of some criticism in Hong Kong and elsewhere over the lack of flexibility in the number of foreign judges who can be invited to sit. (A maximum of one out of five is permitted).
7.
The Chinese have made it clear there is no prospect of altering the agreement reached. The choice is therefore between a Court established on the basis agreed or no CFA before 1997, with uncertainty thereafter. We believe that the agreement is compatible with the Joint Declaration and that, faced with this choice, it is preferable to have a CFA set up soon, so that it can gain experience and be well established before 1997. But this will depend on whether the Hong Kong Legislative Council passes the draft legislation which the Hong Kong Government will present to it in due course.
Bill of Rights
8.
The Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance became law in June 1991. The Bill incorporates into local law the relevant provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong. Anyone who believes their rights under the Covenant have been infringed is now able to seek redress in the local courts. Both the Joint Declaration and Article 39 of the Basic Law provide for the continued application of the Covenant to Hong Kong after 1997.
Democracy
9. When the Sino-British Joint Declaration was signed in 1984, there were no elected members of Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo). In 1985 indirect elections for just under half the membership were introduced and, in February 1988,
ipu.conf.PR
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