學聯
OUR REF:
YOUR REF:
154
HKFS
hong kong federation of students 香港專上學生聯會
50a, lutheran bldg., 1st fl., rm. 101 waterloo rd. kowloon, hong kong 九龍窩打老道五十號A信義樓二 樓 101 室
telephone 3-888137, 3-311234
Mr. E. Heath,
Prime Minister,
10, Downing Street, London.
потого
'telegram "HKFSTUDENT"
17th August, 1973.
R25.
HRR 14/1
Dear Sir,
We read with interest the letter "a way out of the extradition dilemma" by Mr. D.A.L. Wright and Mr. P.J. Griffiths published in the August 16 issue of the S.C.M. Post (Copy enclosed). We concur with the suggestion to ask and we do hereby ask the UK Government "to pass and, if thought desirable, to pass with retrospective effect, an appropriate amendment to rectify the position which would satisfy the great public demand that exists in relation to this matter in the Colony."
As the two long-time and permanent residents of Hong Kong pointed out, there is no constitutional bar to such a solution. Indeed, a fundamental law of the British constitution is the legislative supremacy of the UK Parliament. Positively, this means that Parliament can legally pass any kind of law whatsoever. What is more, negatively it means that there is no person or body whose legislative power competes with it or overrides it.
Since the UK Parliament has the power to amend the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967 in any way it thought fit, is there any compelling reason why s.3(1) (c) (which requires an offence to have an equivalent in UK law before it can be extraditable) should continue to apply to cases of extradition to Hong Kong?
The apparent justification of s.3(1) (c) seems to be the fear of political persecution. Now, let us see whether this fear has any ground so far as extradition to Hong Kong is concerned.
not received but copy
a Hached
To start with, members of the Hong Kong Legislative Council are appointed either by Her Majesty the Queen or by the Governor subject to the overriding power of the Secretary of State. Further, the Royal Instructions prohibit the Governor who is appointed to serve during Her Majesty's pleasure from giving his assent to bills which impose disabilities or restrictions on "persons not of European birth or decent" which are not equally imposed on those of European birth or decent. As the two learned writers noted, Her Majesty exercised control over the Colony's legislation by reserving to hereself the power of disallowance.
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