Thank you for your letter of 14 October to Douglas Hurd about
the status of prisoners in Hong Kong after the establishment of the Special Administrative Region in 1997. I know that you have also been in correspondence with Sion Glenarthur about
this issue.
[ston]
As this correspondence has made clear, the terms of the Joint
Declaration on the status of Hong Kong after China resumes sovereignty over the territory mean that the region will
continue to have a wide measure of autonomy and in particular there will be a continuation of the present judicial and legal system. The fact that China will be resuming [its] sovereignty
over the territory means, however, it is not possible to give
an assurance that prisoners held in Hong Kong will not be
transferred to other parts of the People's Republic of China.
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lorda
It
This unique situation does, as you indicated in your letter,
give rise to very serious issues which have to be taken into
account in respect of extradition to Hong Kong under the Fugitive Offenders Act 1967. I believe that the sensible way of approaching this difficulty is to consider the (extradition
request from Hong Kong on its own merits in the usual way. is, at present, open to the fugitive under the terms of the
1967 Act to argue that he should not be extradited because he
would face persecution in the requesting state or would be
prejudiced at his trial. These issues can be raised in court
and in representations to the Secretary of State. If a
fugitive felt that he was threatened by the resumption of sovereignty in 1997, then it would be open for him to explain this view. The Home Secretary has an unfettered discretion to
refuse extradition in the light of such representations.
respect of fugitives who have applied to the European
Commission on Human Rights, I can assure you that it is our practice not to surrender such persons where the Commission has
by China
In
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