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CONFIDENTIAL #
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11.
Arrangements enshrined in bilateral or multilateral
agreements and implemented by legislation will ensure reciprocity. It is desirable to have agreements with countries from which Hong Kong expects most frequently to require legal assistance, or to receive requests for it. Local legislation will continue to permit discretionary assistance to be given to requesting countries that do not
have treaties with Hong Kong.
Implications i HK: PRC Relations
12.
From the experience gained in negotiating with the ? extradition PRC over/arrangements, it is clear that when considering mutual legal assistance with foreign jurisdictions we will
need to bear in mind the form that MLA arrangements with the
PRC should take. Attention will also need to be paid to
likely Chinese concerns over the international rights and /obligations involved, and sovereignty implications.
✓
A most
important point will be to ensure that all safeguards we would
wish to see in arrangements with the PRC are in place in agreements with other jurisdictions, since the PRC will not
accept less favourable treatment.
CONFIDENTIAL
02:21 21-S
68.
20 3982
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