XN000022-1997-02-19 — Page 39

23.

Reply:

Mr President:

With the agreement of the Chinese side in the Joint Liaison Group (JLG), we are now negotiating a network of bilateral agreements for the surrender of fugitive offenders which will remain in force after 30 June 1997. To date, we have signed agreements with six countries (the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines and the US), and are awaiting signature with India and Indonesia. The agreement recently signed with the US is of particular importance because the great majority of requests for surrender received by Hong Kong comes from the US (10 out of 11 in 1995 and 13 out of 17 in 1996). Other negotiating partners are Singapore, New Zealand, Germany, France, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK.

The specific answer to the three parts of the question is as follows:-

(a)

We are pressing ahead with negotiations with other negotiating partners. Negotiations are well advanced with some of them. We hope to conclude as many bilateral agreements as possible before the handover, and will make known the initialled agreements once they have been approved by the JLG for signature.

We will give effect to the new bilateral agreements once the Fugitive Offenders Bill, which is being examined by a Bills Committee, has been enacted. The Administration will propose a minor amendment to the definition of "arrangements for the surrender of fugitive offenders" in the Bill at the Committee Stage. The purpose of the proposed amendment is to permit arrangements to be made with a jurisdiction with which Hong Kong does not have a bilateral agreement, for the surrender of a particular person (an "ad hoc surrender").