Bulletin Number Four 1986

Address by D r. S imon Fook-sean L i You r Exce l l en cy ， Dr. Lee, Vi ce-Chancel lor M a ， membe rs o f the Uni versi ty Counci l, Ladies and Gent lemen: A n hono r a r y doc t o r a t e is the highest h o n o u r a uni ver si ty can bestow upon an indi vidual . As a pa r och i a l j udge who has never made any academi c o r i n t e l lect ual c on t r i bu t i on s to educa t i on ， l iterature, science o r arts ， I con sider m y s e l f mos t f o r t u n a t e to receive this honou r. I have done l i t t l e to deserve i t ; b u t i t w o u l d be p r e sump t uous to quest i on the w i sdom o f those who have seen f i t to bes tow i t upon me. F o l l ow i n g the t r ad i t i on upon call to the Engl ish Ba r where i t is cu s t om ary f o r the m ost j u n i o r membe r to make the address f o r h ims e l f and his seniors, I have the pri vi lege ， on b eh a l f o f m y f e l l ow graduates who have dist ingui shed themselves in arts, med ic ine and educati on, to o f f e r the Uni ver s it y o u r thanks. We w o u l d l ike to congratulate a l l g raduat ing student s and wish t hem every success in the f u t u r e . Some Thoughts on Rights Under the Basic Laws Ever since the ratification o f the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the future o f Hong Kong (the Joint Declaration) and the appointment o f the Basic Law Drafting Committee by the Government o f the People's Republic o f China, most people in Hong Kong have shown great interest in the proposals for the content o f the Basic Law. By and large, attention has been concentrated on the structure o f the future Government, the electoral system and the relationship between the central Government o f the People's Republic o f China and the local Government o f the Special Administrative Region o f Hong Kong. Great emphasis has been repeatedly laid on the concept o f Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong. This indeed is an important principle which should be the subject matter o f further study and discussion. However, there is something just as important, i f not more important, and fundamental. The concern o f the majority o f the inhabitants o f Hong Kong is the continuation o f their way o f life w ith the least possible interference from the Government. This entails free dom o f the person, freedom o f thought, freedom o f expression, freedom o f movement at one end o f the scale down to the freedom to play an occasional game o f mahjong or to go to horse racing in the future. Hitherto, Hong Kong cannot be described as having a constitutionally democratic government. Yet the people have enjoyed a great measure o f freedom, and their fundamental rights have been protected under the law. To date, the rights and freedoms o f our citizens are protected by an enlightened govern ment which abides by the rule o f law and by consti­ tutional conventions. We must face the fact that Hong Kong has never been an independent territory and it w ill not be in the future. I would like to clarify that I am not against democracy. However, what I want to emphasize is that we should focus on the essentials first. The Background of the Drafting The rights and duties o f the nationals o f the People's Republic o f China are set out in their consti tution. When Hong Kong becomes a Special Admin istrative Region, we need our Basic Law to ensure the continuation o f our way o f life. Paragraph 5 in Article 3 o f the Joint Declaration stipulates that the current social and economic system as well as the lifestyle o f people in Hong Kong w ill remain unchanged. It goes on to ensure that our rights and freedoms w ill be preserved. Section X III o f Annex I to the Joint Declaration recapitulates the same rights and freedoms to which I shall refer later. It further preserves the provisions o f the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong. In fact, all the rights and free­ doms declared to be preserved and protected are those we people in Hong Kong have hitherto enjoyed w ithout a written constitution. Now that the Basic Law is to be drafted, it w ill be necessary, as has been said, to give those rights and freedoms legal sanctity. Approach to Drafting In view o f the detailed provisions in the Joint Declaration, it is not all that d ifficu lt to write the chapter on rights and duties in the Basic Law. A ll that need be done is to adopt a formula whereby the rights and freedoms hitherto recognized by law w ill continue. In addition, those rights and freedoms stipulated in NEWS 9