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Cliff Buddle

Boxes of documents donated by mainland legal expert are still under lock and key

A  Basic Law library, expected to contribute significantly to people's understanding of Hong Kong's constitutional issues, is to open to the public on Sunday after five years of preparation.

But a  collection of materials donated by a mainland legal expert will be missing from its shelves in City Hall, because of  concerns that some may be regarded as 'classified' under mainland law and  not open to public scrutiny.

Boxes of documents concerning the drafting of the Basic Law are under lock and key in Hong Kong, where they are  being vetted and declassified by mainland officials.

Alan Hoo  SC, chairman of the Basic Law Institute,  said: 'It is a very painstaking exercise. There is a lot of material.'

Mr Hoo said  concerns about the classified documents had been a 'bureaucratic nightmare'. They had derailed plans to put the collection on display in the Central Library in 2002.

'The vetting exercise is being carried out by central government departments. They have been very nice about it. They are not removing the material.  They just want to go through it and  formally get it declassified,' said Mr Hoo.

The documents were donated by  mainland legal expert Wu Jianfan,  who has since died.

Wu had been a member of the Basic Law Drafting Committee. His documents were brought to Hong Kong for inclusion in the library with the help of the Central Government Liaison Office.

Even without  Wu's material, the library will comprise the most comprehensive collection of documents relating to the Basic Law ever to be made available to the public.

It will include documents from the drafting committee and consultative committee, and could provide new insight into controversial parts of the Basic Law.

Mr Hoo said getting the library started  had proved to be a huge endeavour and much effort would still be needed to collect further materials covering the  constitutional process.

He hoped  the library would contribute to a deeper understanding of constitutional issues.

A large collection of reference books will  be available at the library, but Mr Hoo said there was a concern the  library was too small.

'We have more books than we can put on the shelves. Some have to be held in storage. I think that is wrong. This is not a museum.'

The launch date, December 19, has been selected because it will be the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.



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