The Hong Kong Royal Instructions 1917 superseded the royal instructions issued on 6 April 1843, all additional instructions amending the 1843 royal instructions, the 1888 royal instructions (replacing the 1843 royal instructions and all additional instructions amending the 1843 royal instructions), and all additional instructions amending the 1888 royal instructions. The royal instructions issued on 14 February 1917, as amended from time to time, formed 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.
Issued under the royal prerogative, and subordinated to the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917, the Hong Kong Royal Instructions 1917 set out such matters as the constitution of the Executive Council and the Legislative Council, and in particular made provision for the latter's procedures, and for the enactment of laws.
After the transfer of sovereignty to China, the Hong Kong Royal Instructions 1917 ceased to have legal effect, being superseded by the new Basic Law.
↑ The long title is 'Instructions to Our Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Colony of Hongkong and Its Dependencies or Other Officer for the Time Being Administering the Government of Our Said Colony and Its Dependencies'
↑ While other post-1917 letters patent only contain provisions amending the 1917 letters patent, the ones issued in 1960 and 1982 and the first one in 1991 contain a stipulation that any act done before the amendment concerned coming into force and contrary to that amendment remains valid.
External links
Wikisource has original text related to this article:
The term "mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China excluding dependent territories of the PRC and other territories within Greater China. By convention, the territories that fall outside of the Chinese mainland include:
The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China is a national law of China that serves as the de facto constitution of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). Comprising nine chapters, 160 articles and three annexes, the Basic Law was enacted under the Constitution of China as a result of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Kong's hybrid representative democracy.
Right of abode in Hong Kong entitles a person to live and work in the territory without any restrictions or conditions of stay. Someone who has that right is a Hong Kong permanent resident. Foreign nationals may acquire the right of abode after meeting a seven-year residency requirement and are given most rights usually associated with citizenship, including the right to vote in regional elections. However, they are not entitled to hold territorial passports or stand for office in some Legislative Council constituencies, unless they also naturalise as Chinese citizens.
The Dominion of New Zealand was the historical successor to the Colony of New Zealand. It was a constitutional monarchy with a high level of self-government within the British Empire.
The British Nationality Act 1981 (c.61) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning British nationality since 1 January 1983.
The Hong Kong handover, domestically known as the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong, was the formal passing of authority over the territory of the then colony of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China at midnight on 1 July 1997. This event ended 156 years of British rule in the former colony. Hong Kong was established as a special administrative region of China, and continues to maintain its economic and governing systems distinct from those of mainland China, although Chinese influence increased after the passing of the 2020 Hong Kong national security law.
The Constitution of the Republic of Singapore is the supreme law of Singapore. A written constitution, the text which took effect on 9 August 1965 is derived from the Constitution of the State of Singapore 1963, provisions of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia made applicable to Singapore by the Republic of Singapore Independence Act 1965, and the Republic of Singapore Independence Act itself. The text of the Constitution is one of the legally binding sources of constitutional law in Singapore, the others being judicial interpretations of the Constitution, and certain other statutes. Non-binding sources are influences on constitutional law such as soft law, constitutional conventions, and public international law.
The Organic Statute of Macau was a Portuguese organic law that provided for government in Portuguese Macau. Approved on 17 February 1976, the Portuguese legislation also reclassified Macau as a "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration".
The Public Seal of Hong Kong, formally known as Public Seal of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the seal for certifying government documents and legislations of Hong Kong. It is held by the Chief Executive.
The Falkland Islands Dependencies was the constitutional arrangement from 1843 until 1985 for administering the various British territories in Sub-Antarctica and Antarctica which were governed from the Falkland Islands and its capital Port Stanley.
The Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917 was one of the principal constitutional instruments of Hong Kong when she was a British Crown colony and dependent territory; the other principal constitutional instruments were the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1960, the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1982, the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1991, and the Hong Kong Royal Instructions 1917. The Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917 has been amended many times since its coming into force.
The Sino-Portuguese Treaty of Peking was a trade treaty between the Kingdom of Portugal and the Qing dynasty of China, signed on 1 December 1887. It is counted by the Chinese as among the unequal treaties in the aftermath of the Second Opium War. The treaty gave Portugal perpetual colonial rights to Macau on the condition that Portugal would cooperate in efforts to end the smuggling of opium.
British Hong Kong was a colony and dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period under Japanese occupation from 1941 to 1945. The colonial period began with the occupation of Hong Kong Island in 1841 during the First Opium War. The island was ceded to Great Britain by the Treaty of Nanking, ratified by the Daoguang Emperor in the aftermath of the war of 1842. It was established as a Crown colony in 1843. The colony expanded to include the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War. Hong Kong's territory was further extended in 1898 when the British obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories.
Royal instructions are formal instructions issued to governors of the United Kingdom's colonial dependencies, and past instructions can be of continuing constitutional significance in a former colonial dependency or Dominion.
Portuguese Macau was a Portuguese colony that existed from the first Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the end of colonial rule and the transfer of sovereignty over Macau to the People's Republic of China in 1999. It constituted of the Municipality of Macau and the Municipality of Ilhas. Macau was both the first and last European holding in China.
The constitutional history of Tokelau comprises several acts and amendments. Tokelau comprises the three Pacific atolls of Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo. The constitutional history of the atoll group dates to its earliest human settlement of at least 1,000 years, much of this time involved an unwritten and oral tradition. It has been governed by many written acts and rules of governance since 1887. The history of Tokelau's laws has been recorded in Tokelau Subdelegated Legislation 1877–1948 and is also published by the Tokelau Law Project.
The expression 'Hong Kong Royal Instructions' is most commonly used to refer to the Hong Kong Royal Instructions 1917, one of the principal constitutional documents of British Hong Kong ; however, it may also refer to any other Hong Kong Royal Instructions or any Hong Kong Additional Instructions, or be used as a generic term covering all Hong Kong Royal Instructions and all Hong Kong Additional Instructions.
The expression 'Hong Kong Letters Patent' is most commonly used to refer to the Hong Kong Letters Patent 1917, one of the principal constitutional documents of British Hong Kong ; however, it may also refer to any other Hong Kong Letters Patent or be used as a generic term covering all Hong Kong Letters Patent.
The Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor-General of New Zealand is a royal decree and a part of the uncodified New Zealand constitution. Sometimes known as the Letters Patent 1983, the instrument has been amended twice since its original issue in 1983. The letters patent—essentially an open letter from the monarch that is a legal instrument—constitutes the office of governor-general as the monarch's representative in the Realm of New Zealand, vests executive authority in the governor-general, establishes the Executive Council to advise the governor-general, and makes provision for the exercise of the governor-general's powers should the office be vacant.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
