BREAKING: Lord Patten and Malcolm Rifkind condemn National People's Congress statement on High Court anti-mask law judgement

On 21 November, Lord Patten, the last British Governor of Hong Kong, and Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former UK Foreign Secretary, both issued statements condemning comments by a spokesman for the NPC Standing Committee's Legislative Affairs Commission that the consistency of Hong Kong's laws with the Basic Law can only be judged and decided by the NPCSC: "No other authority has the right to make judgements and decisions."

In a letter addressed to the UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Lord Patten said that the comments caused him "concern". He said:

"It is therefore of extreme concern that the NPC has made its statement, in complete breach of Article 3(3) of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, which states that: “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will be vested with executive, legislative and independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication.”

In addition to being a serious breach of the Joint Declaration, which is an international legal treaty lodged at the United Nations, the NPC’s statement could seriously undermine judicial independence and the rule of law in Hong Kong if the NPC continues down the path of overruling decisions of Hong Kong courts. It also further dramatically erodes Hong Kong’s autonomy promised under the principle of “one country, two systems”. If the rule of law and autonomy are threatened, Hong Kong’s success as one of the world’s most important international financial and trading centres is at risk."

He continued to call Raab to take action: "As a signatory to the Joint Declaration, Britain has a responsibility to speak out. I therefore urge you to make a strong public statement on this as soon as possible, and to consider what measures could be taken in response to breaches of the Joint Declaration. In 1996, a year before the handover, the then Prime Minister Sir John Major said in Hong Kong that “if there were any suggestion of a breach of the Joint Declaration, we would have a duty to pursue every legal and other avenue available to us.” I hope you will keep this promise in mind and act robustly to defend the principles of the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law for Hong Kong."

Separately, the former Foreign Secretary, Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC, made similar comments in a South China Morning Post op-ed. He stated that:

"The statement is a naked power grab by the central government from the Hong Kong judiciary, and is clearly in breach of both existing Hong Kong case law and the terms of the Sino-British Joint Declaration."

He continued to say that: "Stripping the courts of their powers of final adjudication would have major ramifications for the city as an international financial hub, because of the implications it has for Hong Kong's rule of law and the city's autonomy."