The Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917 superseded the letters patent issued on 5 April 1843, all subsequent letters patent amending the 1843 one, and the letters patent issued on 19 January 1888 (which replaced the 1843 letters patent and all those amending the 1843 one). The 1917 letters patent, as amended from time to time, remained part of the basis for Hong Kong's system of government until the transfer of the territory's sovereignty on 1 July 1997 to the People's Republic of China.
↑ The long title is 'Letters Patent Passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, Constituting the Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Hongkong and Its Dependencies'
↑ While other post-1917 letters patent only contain provisions amending the 1917 letters patent, each of these three letters patent contain a stipulation that any act done before the amendment concerned coming into force and contrary to that amendment remains valid.
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