HOME OFFICE
Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT
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J W Guy Esq
Hong Kong Department
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Whitehall
LONDON
SW1A 2AF
ذابة
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Please reply to The Under Secretary of State
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TKD 384
Date
TY
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La percinkon
1 March 1991
Leger storing
M Panu Liyar
My Sainty, HKD.
Seuning
Thin
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fire
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~1
EXTRADITION OF LORRAIN OSMAN TO HONG KONG
You may be aware that Osman's petition for leave to appeal to the House of Lords against the Divisional Court's judgement on 12 December 1990 rejecting his fourth habeas corpus application was refused earlier this week. On the same day, his solicitors submitted representations to the Home
Secretary. I enclose a copy. We had hoped that the submission of the representations for consideration by the Home Secretary in connection with his decision whether to order Osman's surrender meant that we were nearing the end of the judicial challenges, but we have since heard that he has lodged further applications for judicial review and habeas corpus (his fifth). We do not yet have details of his grounds for these applications, but it seems likely that they will cover similar ground to the representations. We shall need in any case to advise the Home Secretary on the validity of the arguments put forward in them by the solicitors. I wonder therefore if I might ask for your observations on the China point. This was of course raised during the first habeas corpus application and dismissed as irrelevant. I also have to hand the material in your draft to the Malaysian Prime Minister. I am aware therefore of the general line, but we may need to consider more closely what to say if the issue is to come under the Secretary of the Divisional Court. Can we offer any alternative opinions to those of Yash Pal Ghai and Hungdam Chiu?