SAFEGUARDS were proposed by a leading academic yesterday to prevent the Chief Executive randomly asking the National People's Congress Standing Committee to interpret the Basic Law. Professor Albert Chen Hung-yee, Dean of the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law, told the Legco constitutional affairs panel: 'Such safeguards . . . should be similar to those applicable to amendments of the mini-constitution.' He said they were warranted since a Standing Committee interpretation of a provision amounts to a minor or technical amendment, to existing law. The Basic Law requires amendment bills from the SAR be submitted to the NPC after gaining the consent of two-thirds of legislators and of local NPC deputies, and the Chief Executive. Professor Chen proposed that any government requests to the Standing Committee for interpretation of a provision which is within the scope of the SAR's autonomy should be subject to similar safeguards. He suggested the Government be allowed to ask the legislature and the local NPC delegation to re-examine its request for interpretation during a trial under certain circumstances. This re-examination should be done if the court rejects the administration's submission that the Basic Law provision falls within the relationship between the SAR and the central authorities. Under his proposal, requests for interpretation would go forward if they were approved by the Chief Executive, a simple majority of local NPC deputies and a simple majority of legislators.
