12 September 1991
BY FAX
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Foreign &
Commonwealth
Office
FICE
56
J M Hunter Esq
Senior Crown Counsel (International Law) Attorney General's Chambers International Law Division
Hong Kong
London SWŁA ZAH
Telephone: 071-
jkcza 1/2
Dear Mr Hunter
TORTURE CONVENTION
1.
53
Thank you for your letter of 4 September to
Shaun Riordan. Shaun is away on leave, but in his absence I have sought FCO Legal Advisers' advice on the question raised in your letter.
2.
The position in the UK is as follows. An Order in Council made under the Extradition Acts 1870-1935 had the effect of incorporating in UK law the provisions of the bilateral Treaty which was scheduled to the Order. It thus made extraditable those offences which were set out in the Treaty. The offences in the Treaty had to be chosen from the offences in the list contained in the Extradition Act 1870 but the Extradition Act did not itself make extraditable any of the offences it listed. An Order in Council was necessary to apply it. This is why in the United Kingdom we have had to make an Extradition (Torture) Order 1991 to make the offence of torture extraditable both in relation to States for which Orders under the Extradition Act are in force (Article 2 of the Order) and in relation to States with which no Extradition Treaties are in force (Article 4 of the Order). A copy of the Order follows by bag with the top copy of this letter.
3. The short answer to the question in paragraph 6 of your letter is, therefore, "no, unless they are amended".
yous incercly
Chiri Sainty.
CJ Sainty
Hong Kong Department
CAMAIN
CC
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