A Department of Justice request for the Court of Final Appeal to consider referring to the National People’s Congress Standing Committee to clarify the 1999 Basic Law interpretation's effect on local residency laws will not affect Hong Kong's rule of law and judicial independence, Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen reiterates. 

Speaking to the media today, Mr Yuen said this measure should help to resolve the right of abode issue for different categories of people, including foreign domestic helpers and babies born to Mainland pregnant women. This was consistent with his emphasis on resolving the issue under Hong Kong’s own legal system, he stressed.

Mr Yuen said his department had filed the foreign domestic helper’s right of abode appeal case in accordance with Court of Final Appeal procedures yesterday. The Department of Justice has invited the Court of Final Appeal to consider seeking the NPCSC clarification on the interpretation as it is a relevant issue which must be resolved in the present case, he said.

Mr Yuen said the Government respects the rule of law and judicial independence, and will adopt the same cautious attitude in handling the foreign domestic helpers’ case and the issue of Mainland pregnant women.