(3001) Dd. 145244 400m 8/73 L.Ltd. Gp.839
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry
No.
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Secret,
Secret.x
Confidential.
Restricted.x Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
DRAFT
LETTER
CONFIDENTIAL
To:-
Mr F L T Graham-Harrison CB Deputy Under Secretary of
State
Home Office
Type 1 +
FROM
Sir D Watson
Telephone No. Ext.
In Confidence
13/11
Hypoalle
No
あ
13
THE FUGITIVE OFFENDERS ACT
Department
1. Andrew Stuart, Head of/Hong Kong and Indian
Ocean Department, has been in correspondence with
Brennan of your office about the double
criminality rule in the Act, which has recently
prevented us from sending back to Hong Kong a
police officer charged under their Prevention
of Bribery Ordinance.
As you know, this was one
of the problems for our relations with Hong Kong
the foreign & Commonwealth
which was covered in
*
Secretary's of Satelis
minute to the Prime Minister of 20 September.
Subsequently at the meeting of officials called
by the Cabinet Office to consider the minute it
was agreed that we would explore this question
further with your Department.
2.
Brennan's initial reaction was that to
change the law to catch Godber, the police officer
concerned, would be very difficult. He argued that
retrospective legislation, designed to catch one
man, would be bound to give trouble in Parliament.
Godber might anyway bolt before the legislation went
Godde through. Moreover the offence of which is
accused in Hong Kong
Badet
the possession of unexplained
resources by a public officer is one which is
foreign to the general law of this country.
CONFIDEN IAL
13.