23-APR-1993 16:20
BRITISH EMBASSY PARIS
16 1 42 66 91 42
P.02
She said that the Hong Kong lawyers had already been asked
about both these points, but she had received no response. can you help?
I should be grateful to know if you could help.
3
We are pursuing here Saniman's lawyer's argument (section 3) about the invalidity of the request for
extradition of 31 May 1990.
4.
In general, Mme Masse-Dessen expressed surprise at the tactics of Saniman's lawyer, and thought his arguments rather weak. The key question was whether the Conseil
would d'Etat would want to involve itself in a case which was setting a precedent not just in extradition terms but also on whether a foreign government could bring an appeal
about against the French government to the Conseil d'Etat ever an
international treaty.
5.
On the timetable, Mme Masse-Dessen explained that the
French Minister of Justice had 15 days (which was
occasionally extended) from 9 April to submit his observations. Mme Masse-Dessen would then have 15 days
(which again could be extended) to respond to the arguments of Saniman's lawyer. That would be the final stage, ie there would not be a further input from Saniman's lawyer. The case would then be with the Conseil d'Etat, who might