TNAG-2881-FCO40-4153-Future-of-Hong-Kong-localisation-of-laws-dumping-at-sea-1993 — Page 20

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FROM:

HKCC 370/10

Jill Barrett

Assistant Legal Adviser K174 270 3381

RECEIVE

DATE:

2 April 1993

Mr Marshall

HKD

INDEX

LOCALISATION OF LAWS: DUMPING AT SEA

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1. I refer to your minute of 16 March requesting comments on HK Tel No 402 and the draft consultation paper on the localisation of UK enactments on dumping at sea.

2.

2

Paragraph 4 of the paper indicates that the Dumping Convention has been amended four times and that these amendments were accepted by the UK and applied to Hong Kong. I assume that there must have been some legislation which implemented these amendments in respect of Hong Kong, (although library searches have so far failed to reveal any). Reference should be made here to any legislation which amended the 1975 Order.

3. In paragraph 6 (last line) and paragraph 7(a) (first line) I think it would increase clarity to insert "1974" before "Act".

4. Paragraph 8 draws attention to the extraterritorial effect of the proposed legislation. I assume that the intention is merely to reproduce the extraterritorial features of the present legislation, rather than to create any new ones. If so,

it would be as well to make this clear.

5. With regard to the points made in paragraph 2 (B) of TUR, I agree that the Chinese might be suspicious of a proposal to localise section 12 of the FEP Act 1985. I also agree that, given that apparently no procedure of the type referred to in section 12 has ever been agreed between the UK and other Convention States, they could manage without such a provision until 1997. Obviously, if it were necessary to apply such a procedure to HK before then, it could be done by Order in Council.

6. However, I wonder how HKG intend to provide for the application of procedures agreed by Convention Parties after 1997. If no provision along the lines of section 12 of the Act is made at all they risk leaving an inconvenient gap. Perhaps this is a matter which HKG intend to raise in the context of adaptation; but if there is no provision dealing with this point in the localised legislation, there will be nothing to adapt.

Tillbaut

Jill Barrett