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Garrison Law has to be acceptable to HK people
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, at the motion debate on Garrison Law in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
This is the second motion debate on the Garrison Law in four months. It reflects the degree of interest and concern on this subject within this Council and in the community more generally.
Such intense interest, following the announcement that the draft Garrison Law has been submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for examination, is hardly surprising. The Garrison Law will be an important piece of legislation which sets out the framework for the operation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the HKSAR from 1 July 1997. It governs the legal relationship between the people of Hong Kong, the HKSAR Government and the military. It determines how the commitment in Article 14 of the Basic Law, that "in addition to abiding by national laws, members of the garrison shall abide by the laws of the HKSAR". will be implemented in practice.
The Chinese Government have assured the community that the garrison to be stationed in Hong Kong SAR will be a high standard. law abiding model military force But no one can entirely rule out the possibility that a soldier might break the law, or infringe upon the rights of a civilian in Hong Kong. As such, a series of difficult questions will need to be addressed: Who should handle or try the offender? How will the law ensure that justice can be done, and be seen to be done? How can we achieve a fine balance between the need to protect the rights of the soldier and those of the civilian? What arrangements will be acceptable to both the military and the community?
At present, a member of the British Forces in Hong Kong will normally be tried in Hong Kong courts if he commits a criminal offence under Hong Kong law. However, under the UK Forces (Jurisdiction of Colonial Courts) Order 1965. if the alleged offence is against another member of the garrison, or is against the property of the UK government or other garrison members, or arises out of and in the course of his duty, the case will be dealt with under military jurisdiction. The Commanding Officer of the British Forces may waive military jurisdiction and hand over a case to be dealt with by Hong Kong courts even where one of the exceptions above applies. He will normally do so if an offence resulted in a serious incident or injury to a civilian, or if there is a civilian accomplice.