TNAG-1825-FCO40-2592-Hong-Kong-and-the-UK-Criminal-Justice-Bill-Administration-of-1988 — Page 3

ET MON

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

London SW1A 2AH

270 2655

Telephone 01-

39

Lee HID 384/3 89

It's

SD/TRE/23/1

HKD 384/1

28 October 1988

J Newall Esq.,

Special Duties Unit,

Attorney General's Chambers,

Government Secretariat Room 363,

HONG KONG.

Your reference

Our reference

Date

208) an

attached.

HKD

Dear Chris,

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT: EXTRADITION

I

•

PKD 370/2

ергоно

1 Please refer to your letter of 28 September to David Edwards. 384/11 am replying during David's absence on his duty visit to Hong Kong. No doubt you will have met him by now, and may have had chance to discuss this with him.

(37)

2. I suspect there may have been a crossing of wires in the Attorney General's Chambers. I wrote on 15 June to Jeremy Mathews enclosing a circular letter to Attorneys General in Dependent Territories from Peter Monk of our Nationality and Treaty Department. In my letter I drew attention to the JLG angle, and suggested that Jeremy pursue the issue as necessary with Frank Stock, Special Duties Unit and General Duties Branch. Subsequently (on 5 October) Peter Monk sent to Attorneys

a copy of Part I of the Criminal Justice Act.

General

3.

I imagine that much of the material which by now should be available in Hong Kong will answer your queries to David Edwards. If you have difficulty tracking it down or have any further queries, please let me know.

4. While the Criminal Justice Bill was given the Royal Assent on 29 July, Part I (which would enable the UK to enter into extradition arrangements which do not include a requirement for prima facie evidence) requires an Order in Council to be laid before it comes into force. The timing of the implementation of Part I of the Act is not yet certain (because of an exercise to consolidate extradition legislation) and it is thus not clear when the UK will be in a position to ratify the Council of Europe Convention. Nationality and Treaty Department advise that ratification is unlikely before next year at the earliest.

5.

For what it is worth, the initial reaction of both David

UNCLASSIFIED