Legal expert calls for rational discussions on extradition bill

Updated: 2019-05-30 06:48

By Chen Zimo in Hong Kong(HK Edition)

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The Hong Kong government's plan to change the city's extradition laws to enhance the rule of law and improve social stability is in line with basic legal principles and common sense, said a Chinese mainland legal expert.

In a commentary published in the Global Times on Wednesday, Zhi Zhenfeng, a law pundit with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the nation's top think tank, called for discussions about the issue from the legal and factual perspectives.

The SAR government proposed amending the Fugitive Offenders and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance in March to enable Hong Kong to surrender fugitive offenders on a case-by-case basis to jurisdictions that do not have long-term extradition arrangements with the city.

Hong Kong, so far, has rendition arrangements with 20 jurisdictions. Taiwan, Macao and the Chinese mainland are not among them.

Zhi argued that the Basic Law, the SAR's constitutional document, provides the constitutional basis for the amendments.

Under Article 95 of the Basic Law, the SAR may, through consultations and in accordance with the law, maintain juridical relations with the judicial organs of other parts of the country, and they may render assistance to each other.

Legal expert calls for rational discussions on extradition bill

The extradition bill is also in line with international rendition protocols, specifying that crimes involving political, religious or racial issues are not extraditable, Zhi noted, adding that mutual legal assistance is common among various jurisdictions in combating international crime.

Moreover, revising the extradition laws conforms with the "simplest rationale", which is to safeguard social justice, and the lives and properties of Hong Kong people, he said. It will also prevent the SAR from becoming a haven for criminals.

Zhi criticized the behavior of Hong Kong opposition lawmakers who have resorted to filibustering repeatedly to thwart the law overhaul, and invited foreign intervention to block the amendments in disregard of legal principles and facts.

The amendments were triggered by a murder case involving a Hong Kong man, who returned to the SAR after fleeing Taiwan, where he allegedly killed his girlfriend. Taiwan authorities have been unable to prosecute him in the absence of a fugitive surrender arrangement between the two regions.

The Legislative Council's House Committee passed a motion on Friday to resume the second reading of the amendment bill at a full council meeting on June 12 to break the impasse, as the bills committee tasked with vetting the bill has failed to elect a chairman due to opposition legislators' filibustering.

mollychen@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 05/30/2019 page4)