Media

New Online Resources reveal Basic Law Drafting History

17 Dec 2008

 

Did you know the members of the pre-1991 Legislature and Executive Council reached a consensus on a political model that would have seen the introduction of universal suffrage for the election of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council by 2003?

The Drafting Committee Sub-group unanimously agreed to adopt a provision that would require the Hong Kong government to pass legislation to ban subversion, secession and sedition?

The Drafting Committee Sub-group had wanted to include a minimum voting age of 21 in the Basic Law?

In a motion debate on whether a bill of rights should be enacted, three legislators gave speeches for not supporting the motion, while two gave speeches for abstaining.  All other legislators who spoke supported the motion?

The right to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence, now enshrined in Article 87 of the Basic Law, were not included in early drafts of the Basic Law and were only added after the first public consultation in 1988?

Or did you know a proposal to include a ban on abortion in the Basic Law was rejected by the Drafting Committee Sub-group on the Basic Rights and Duties of HK Residents as being "inappropriate"?

With the aim of promoting the knowledge and understanding of Hong Kong's constitution, the Centre for Comparative and Public Law (http://www.hku.hk/ccpl/) and the University of Hong Kong Libraries (http://www.lib.hku.hk/) are pleased to announce the launch of Basic Law Drafting History Online, Release 2.0. 

Three new databases are now available.  With these new databases, users can now read what was being reported in the English language newspapers on the Basic Law drafting and consultation processes, read what was said about the Basic Law in the Legislature when the drafting was taking place and research the history of every article and provision in the Basic Law in earlier draft versions of the text.

Users can view the website (http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/bldho/) to know more about Hong Kong's constitutional history and background.

For enquiry, please email at snmyoung@hku.hk