with as specified above is defined by section 14(3) of the Hong Kong
Order as "the period beginning with the day of his arrival in Hong Kong
and ending forty-five days after the first subsequent
on his return
day on which he has the opportunity to leave Hong Kong".
6.
It is submitted that the Specialty Assurance does not comply with
section 6(4) of the EA for the reasons given below.
7.
The term "relevant law" in Section 6(4) of the EA must mean the law
which applies to the returned fugitive at all material times since the
whole basis of the provision is to prevent a returned fugitive from
being proceeded against at any time after his return, whether before or
after trial and/or conviction. This is made wholly explicit in the
Specialty Assurance itself, wherein the period of protection is defined
(as set out in paragraph 5. above) to extend to 45 days after the first
subsequent day on which the person returned has the opportunity to leave
Hong Kong.
8.
The requirement that a Specialty Assurance is contained in "the relevant
law" has a very special significance to Hong Kong because of the return
of the territory's sovereignty to the Peoples' Republic of China ("the
PRC") as from 1st July 1997. All of Hong Kong's existing laws will
expire on 1st July 1997: the relevant law as from that date is governed
by the Basic Law recently promulgated by the PRC.
9.
The position regarding the Basic Law and its relationship to the
constitution and laws of Hong Kong is explained by the expert opinions
of Professor Yash Pal Ghai, Professor of Public Law at the University of
Hong Kong ("the Ghai Opinion"), and Professor Hungdah Chiu, Professor of