The Government has sought to play down the right-of-abode row in an official report by quoting Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang's comments on the case in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
The report, Hong Kong SAR: The First Five Years 1997-2002, cited Mr Justice Li's remarks in an interview with the Post published on June 14 that he did not believe the Government's referral of the Court of Final Appeal's ruling to Beijing had humiliated or diminished the court's authority.
But the report failed to note that he also said in the interview that he hoped there would be no more reinterpretations by Beijing after the ruling.
'I note as a matter of fact that the Government has stated quite unequivocally that while it cannot rule out the question of interpretation, it would only consider it in very extreme and exceptional circumstances,' Mr Li said in the interview.
'I also note that since that time, although cases have gone against the Government, this has not been considered. It may be this will never recur. It is my hope it will not.'
The 44-page report documents major events in the SAR's first five years.