The courts are not bound by everything said by the National People's Congress Standing Committee when it reinterpreted abode laws last year, appeal judges were told yesterday.
Gladys Li SC, for two-year-old Chong Fung-yuen, fought back against government claims that the court must rule in accordance with the opinions of the now-defunct Preparatory Committee.
The Director of Immigration is seeking to overturn a December ruling, which gave right of abode to children born in Hong Kong to mainland visitors.
Fung-yuen was born while his parents were in the SAR on a two-way permit.
The Government has drawn the court's attention to a passage in the reinterpretation which states that the opinions of the Preparatory Committee reflect the true meaning of the relevant part of the Basic Law.
But Ms Li said the Standing Committee had not been asked to interpret this provision, part of Article 24. Anything it said in this regard was not an interpretation and not binding on the court.