TNAG-2714-FCO40-3920-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 101

recommendation in 1989, and the Joint Declaration remains the

basis for our policy. We continue to believe that full implementation of the one country

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two systems approach set out in the Joint Declaration is the best guarantee of Hong Kong's future stability and prosperity. We have sought a good working relationship with the People's Republic of China over Hong Kong in

the interests of a smooth transition for Hong Kong to Chinese

sovereignty in July 1997, and a successful future for the new Hong

Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) beyond that. But our

relations with China over Hong Kong since 1990 have been dominated by disagreements over two major issues: the Airport project in 1991, and again in 1992; and more recently the question of

political development. Each is dealt with in more detail below.

But the overall effect has been to slow down work on many of the

more technical issues, particularly in the Sino-British Joint

Liaison Group (the body established by the Joint Declaration as

the forum for cooperation in implementing the Joint Declaration).

Court of Final Appeal

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4. The Committee concluded paragraph 2:8 of the 289-1) that confidence in the legal system is a vital prerequisite for social

stability, and recommended a Joint Constitutional Court situated

in Hong Kong. The Joint Declaration provides for a Court of Final Appeal to be established in Hong Kong to replace the right of appeal to the Privy Council. After a lengthy negotiation, we reached agreement in the Joint Liaison Group in 1991 on the establishment of a Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong before 1997

in a form which could continue beyond 1997. We believe that this

would be a major contribution to the preservation of judicial

independence in Hong Kong. The Legislative Council passed a motion in December 1991 criticising one aspect of the agreement (the number of judges from other common law jurisdictions who

could be invited to sit on the Court at any time).

5.

We believe that the agreement offers a workable basis for

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