parsel to
Mr Furness.
9
Agreement
The Hong Kong-USA
(Annex C), signed on 23 November 1990, is limited to reciprocal assistance in the restraint and confiscation of the proceeds of drug trafficking and does not provide for other forms of mutual assistance such as investigation and provision of evidence. This is mainly because the US side was unwilling to agree to the latter form of assistance, its relevant safeguards including that related to the death penalty, and the limitation of use relating to provision of evidence. The US side preferred to address these in the context of negotiation of a comprehensive mutual legal assistance agreement at a later date.
Arrangements with the UK
10
Arrangements with the UK were established by an exchange of letters dated 8 and 23 November (Annex D). Reciprocity will be on the basis of agreed guidelines, and will apply initially between Hong Kong and the UK jurisdictions of England and Wales, and Scotland. When Northern Ireland has the necessary legislation in place, and when the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey formally agree to designate Hong Kong under their corresponding legislation, the agreed arrangements will extend to those jurisdictions also.
We propose that all the UK jurisdictions should be designated now, although the arrangements will only take effect in relation to Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands when those jurisdictions have similarly designated Hong Kong.
Agreement with Australia
11
The Hong Kong-Australia Agreement (Annex E), initialled on 30 November 1990, provides for reciprocity in the restraint and confiscation
broader mutual
agreement.
of the proceeds of drug trafficking, and the assistance envisaged in our draft model We therefore propose that Australia should be designated now, although the
the provisions of the agreement will only be
be binding on both sides following signature of the agreement, and notification by Australia that its domestic legal requirements for implementation of the agreement have been complied with.
The China Dimension
12
Shortly before signature of each bilateral agreement we had informed the Chinese side as a courtesy. They took note and stated that they had no objection to the HMG authorising HKG, during the transitional period, to negotiate and conclude bilateral agreements on drug trafficking, the validity of which does not extend beyond 1997.
CONFIDENTIAL