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extraditable.
action. We do not know whether this is a representative
opinion of back-bench, or Opposition, MPs. Section 10 of
the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance creates an anomalous
offence, which the Law Officers would find difficult to
justify and HMG could be criticised for making such an offence
In view of this we should only contemplate
changing the law if there was broad support from all parties
in Parliament. Even an Order in Council would require an
affirmative resolution by both Houses. The Opposition and
Whips would therefore need to be consulted.
sounding them out we are seeking the views of the Home Office.
Officials in the Law Officer's Department see no prima facie
objection to what is proposed, but also thought the Home Office
should be consulted.
But before
7. If the law is changed Hong Kong would have to accept that
there might well be cases in which the UK authorities would
not feel able to authorise extradition for an offence unknown
to UK law. And we would also be bound to look at new legis-
lation with a view to disallowance with an even more critical
eye if it involved the possibility of extradition.
might well find that this increased surveillance outweighed
the advantages of extradition.
Hong Kong
8. This is the first occasion on which the double criminality
rule has given rise to any difficulty, and it seems unlikely
that it will cause any difficulty in the future. To amend the
law simply and solely because of Godber may be ineffective
/he may
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