-56“On the basis of the previous social welfare system, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region shall, on its own, formulate policies on the development and improvement of this system in the light of the economic conditions and social needs.” Economic conditions and social needs 160. As can be seen, the expression “in the light of economic conditions and social needs” comes immediately after the reference to the development and improvement of the previous welfare system. I readily accept that economic and social conditions can justify slowing down or temporarily halting such development and improvement. What about new restrictions on the availability of social welfare? If the new restrictions go to undoing development and improvement introduced after the coming into effect of the Basic Law, then I think that a really serious economic downturn might justify such restrictions. Can an economic downturn justify moving the welfare systems backwards from where it had stood when the Basic Law came into effect? I would not rule that out but find it difficult to see how any economic downturn can justify such a course unless it is so dire as to bring about a situation not contemplated by the constitution. If art. 145 of the Basic Law is less protective than that, it would of little practical use. Residence requirement made seven times more restrictive 161. The CSSA scheme was introduced in 1973. From that time until 1 January 2004, the residence requirement for the receipt of CSSA was one year. The CSSA scheme with a one-year residence requirement is part of the “previous welfare system” to which art. 145 refers. That is easy to see. The Basic Law was promulgated and adopted on 4 April 1990 and came into effect upon the handover on 1 July 1997. So the CSSA system with a one-year residence requirement was in place when the Basic Law was promulgated and adopted and when it came into effect. The one-year residence requirement