The top court was asked by the Government yesterday to consider referring part of a landmark battle over flag laws to the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.
Gerard McCoy, SC, for the Department of Justice, said a question had been drafted by the Government for consideration in Beijing if the Court of Final Appeal thought it right to refer the case.
'I am instructed to ask Your Lordships . . . whether you need to refer these issues for resolution,' said Mr McCoy.
But Mr Justice Charles Ching doubted whether the issues raised by the Government for possible consideration in Beijing were ones which needed to be dealt with when deciding the case.
'To refer this question would make us look like a bunch of clowns. There is simply no question, as far as this present case is concerned, of that nature,' he said.
Mr McCoy told the judges he was not urging them to refer the issues to the Standing Committee, only raising the question for their consideration.
When deciding whether a referral was needed, the court should take into account the reinterpretation of the Basic Law by the Standing Committee in June as well as principles laid down in its own landmark abode ruling, Mr McCoy said.