Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Regarding Annex I (7) and Annex II (III) to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the 8th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress on April 6, 2004)

At its 8th Meeting, the Standing Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress examined the motion proposed by the Council of Chairmen requesting examination of the Draft Interpretation by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Regarding Annex I (7) and Annex II (III) to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Having consulted the Committee for the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region under the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has decided, in accordance with the provisions in Subparagraph (4) of Article 67 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China and the provisions in the first paragraph of Article 158 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, to make the following interpretation of the provisions of Annex I (7) to the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, under the Method for the Selection of the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which reads, “If there is a need to amend the method for selecting the Chief Executives for the terms subsequent to the year 2007, such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief Executive, and they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for approval”, and the provisions of Annex II (III) , under the Method for the Formation of the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its Voting Procedures, which reads, “With regard to the method for forming the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its procedures for voting on bills and motions after 2007, if there is a need to amend the provisions of this Annex, such amendments must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Council and the consent of the Chief Executive, and they shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for the record” :

1. The phrases “subsequent to the year 2007” and “after 2007” stipulated in the two Annexes mentioned above include the year 2007.

2. The provisions in the two Annexes mentioned above that “if there is a need” to amend the method for selecting the Chief Executives for the terms subsequent to the year 2007 or the method for forming the Legislative Council and its procedures for voting on bills and motions after 2007 mean that they may be amended or remain unamended.

3. The provisions in the two Annexes mentioned above that any amendment must be made with the endorsement of a two-thirds majority of all the members of the Legislative Council and the consent of the Chief Executive and shall be reported to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for approval or for the record mean the legislative process that must be gone through before the method for selecting the Chief Executive and the method for forming the Legislative Council and its procedures for voting on bills and motions are to be amended. Such an amendment may become effective only if it has gone through the said process, including the approval finally given by the said Committee in accordance with law or the reporting to the Committee for the record. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall present a report to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress as regards whether there is a need to make an amendment, and the Committee shall, in accordance with the provisions in Articles 45 and 68 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, make a determination in the light of the actual situation in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and in accordance with the principle of gradual and orderly progress. The bills on amendments to the method for selecting the Chief Executive and the method for forming the Legislative Council and its procedures for voting on bills and motions and the proposed amendments to such bills shall be introduced by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region into the Legislative Council.

4. If no amendment is made to the method for selecting the Chief Executive, the method for forming the Legislative Council and its procedures for voting on bills and motions as stipulated in the two Annexes mentioned above, the provisions relating to the method for selecting the Chief Executive in Annex I will remain applicable to the method for selecting the Chief Executive, and the provisions relating to the method for forming the third term of the Legislative Council in Annex II and the provisions relating to its procedures for voting on bills and motions in Annex II will remain applicable to the method for forming the Legislative Council and its procedures for voting on bills and motions.

Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Concerning the Handling of the Laws Previously in Force in Hong Kong in Accordance with Article 160 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the PRC

(Adopted at the 24th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on February 23, 1997)

It is provided in Article 160 of the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Basic Law for short) that "Upon the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the laws previously in force in Hong Kong shall be adopted as laws of the Region except for those which the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress declares to be in contravention of this Law. If any laws are later discovered to be in contravention of this Law, they shall be amended or cease to have force in accordance with the procedure as prescribed by this Law." Article 8 of the Basic Law stipulates: "The Laws previously in force in Hong Kong, that is, the common law, rules of equity, ordinances, subordinate legislation and customary law, shall be maintained, except for any that contravene this Law or are subject to any amendment by the legislature of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region." In accordance with the provisions mentioned above, the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress at its 24th Meeting deliberated the proposal of the Preparatory Committee for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on handling the laws previously in force in Hong Kong and adopted the decision as follows:

1. The laws previously in force in Hong Kong, including the common law, rules of equity, ordinances, subordinate legislation and customary law, shall be adopted as laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, except for any that contravene the Basic Law.

2. The ordinances and subordinate legislation previously in force in Hong Kong, listed in Appendix I of this Decision, which are in contravention of the Basic Law shall not be adopted as laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

3. Since some provisions of the ordinances and subordinate legislation, which are previously in force in Hong Kong and listed in Appendix II of this Decision, contravene the Basic Law, they shall not be adopted as provisions of laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

4. The laws previously in force in Hong Kong, which have been adopted as laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, shall be applied as of July 1, 1997 with such modifications, adaptations restrictions and exceptions as may be necessary for making them conform with the status of Hong Kong after the People's Republic of China resumes the exercise of sovereignty over it and with the relevant provisions of the Basic Law, for example, the New Territories Land (Exemption) Ordinance shall be applied in accordance with the principle mentioned above.

In addition to the above-mentioned principle, the following provisions shall be conformed with when applying the provisions of the ordinances and subordinate legislation previously in force:

(1) Where the provisions relating to the diplomatic affairs of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are found inconsistent with the national laws coming into effect in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the national laws shall prevail, and the provisions shall be made in keeping with the international rights enjoyed by the Central People's Government and the international obligations it undertakes.

(2) No provisions which accord privileges to the United Kingdom or any other countries or regions of the British Commonwealth shall be maintained with the exception of the reciprocity provisions in connection with Hong Kong and the United Kingdom or any other countries or regions of the British Commonwealth.

(3) The provisions regarding the rights, immunities and obligations of the British troops stationed in Hong Kong shall be maintained provided that they do not contravene the provisions of the Basic Law and the Law of the People's Republic of China on Garrisoning the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and shall be applicable to the troops stationed in Hong Kong by the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.

(4) The provision that the English language is superior to the Chinese language in terms of legal effect shall be construed as that both the Chinese and English language are the official languages.

(5) If the provisions in the British laws that are quoted in Hong Kong ordinances and subordinate legislation do not jeopardize the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China or contravene the provisions of the Basic Law, they may, as a transitional arrangement, continue to be applied mutatis mutandis before they are amended by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

5. On condition that the provisions in Article 4 are conformed with, the substitution rules prescribed in Appendix III of this Decision shall be followed when interpreting or applying the words and expressions in the laws previously in force in Hong Kong which are adopted as laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, except that they mean otherwise.

6. If the laws previously in force in Hong Kong which are adopted as laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are later discovered to be in contravention of the Basic Law, they may be amended or cease to have force in accordance with the procedure as prescribed by the Basic Law.