Petition · Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Hold an inquiry into the status of the Sino-British Joint Declaration
Closed
2,105 signatures
What the petition asks
We call on the Parliament to hold a formal inquiry and investigate whether the JD is void or not as a signatory of the treaty, as we believe there is no evidence that China has acted to ensure the JD abides by the peremptory norms of international law, or “jus cogens.”
According to Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, ‘A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law.’ The JD is the legal ground of Hong Kong's handover, but was not passed by a referendum in Hong Kong and we believe there seems to be no evidence HK's election system can comply with ICCPR, meaning the JD may fail to conform to principle of self-determination, and thus conflict with jus cogens.
Timeline
| 16 Dec 2025 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 16 Jun 2026 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
2,105
Status
Closed
Department
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Opened
16 Dec 2025
Closed
16 Jun 2026
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 31 Jul 2026.