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If
we believe that a case can be made for drafting this Convention in a manner which permits non-State entities to be parties, since its whole purpose is to achieve co-operation between law enforce- ment agencies. There may be a number of States with more than one such agency, and even if there are not, the fact that the long Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) agency will be separate from that of China should be a strong argument for drafting the Convention in a manner which permits the HKSAR to be a party. Hong Kong is to be a party in its own right, an Article will be needed in the Convention permitting accession by non-State entities. Various minor drafting changes would also be needed e.g. to amend references to nationals, sovereignty, national legislation, state parties etc. I should be grateful if you would discuss with the Hong Kong Department of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and the United Nations Department of the FCO with a view to the 1.K. raising the matter with the U.N. Division of Narcotic Drugs.
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As regards option (b), the disadvantage is that in order for Hong Kong to receive full benefits from the Convention we would have to wait for ratification by the U.K. and the subsequent extension to Hong Kong. Admittedly we could comply with the Convention as we do with the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances but we would not have the right to reciprocal treatment from other signatories. We would have to depend on their goodwill. Under the territorial application arrangement, there is also the question of how to ensure continuity after 1997. If China were to be a party by then, the Hong Kong SAR could presumably continue with the arrangements covered by the Convention. If China did not become a party Hong Kong would lose its right to participate after 1997 under option (b). For these reasons, we regard option (b) as inferior to (a) although we recognise that it may be the best we can hope for. If option (b) becomes the only option, then we would at least urge that the draft be amended to preserve the autonomy of Hong Kong's law enforcement agencies. As drafted, the Convention contemplates co-ordinating action being at the national level, requires authorisation from the national agency etc. This would
This
be wholly unworkable for Hong Kong both now and after 1997. is because at present Hong Kong's law enforcement machinery is separate from that of the U.K. and will be separate from that. of China in the future. It should also be noted that the future Hong Kong SAR Government may well be entitled under the Joint Declaration on the Future of Hong Kong to enter into extradition treaties of its own and therefore the Convention should be drafted in a manner which will be compatible.with this scenari、.
For these reasons, we would like to request HMG to put forward an amendment to the draft which would enable Hong Kong (and the future HKSAR) to be a party to the Convention in its own right. If that is not feasible, then there must be at the least be a territorial application clause acceptable to China plus an Article based on but more explicit than Article