§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether China has informed him of plans to change the legal system in Hong Kong. [157820]
§ Mr. RammellWe are not aware of any plans to change the legal system in Hong Kong. The Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 provided for the maintenance of the existing legal system in Hong Kong after the handover in 1997. The Joint Declaration also provides that the legal system in Hong Kong should be autonomous from the legal system of mainland China and should be vested with independent judicial power. This should remain unchanged until at least 2047.