About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (October 23, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbbnh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: . ° Congressional Research Service Ifo rq the lenislative debate since 1914 Updated October 23, 2019 Hong Kong's Proposed Extradition Law Amendments Two proposed changes to Hong Kong's extradition law have sparked over two months of massive demonstrations across the city. If they had been adopted, the changes could make anyone-including U.S. citizens-residing in, visiting, or transiting the Hong Kong Special Administrative District (HKSAR) vulnerable to investigation by or extradition to mainland China, raising concerns about possible political prosecutions. On April 3, 2019, Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor submitted to the city's Legislative Council (Legco) proposed amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (FOO) that would permit-for the first time-extradition of alleged criminals from Hong Kong to mainland China, the Macau Special Administrative Region (Macau), and Taiwan. In addition, the legislation seeks to amend its Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (MLAO) to include mainland China, Macau, and Taiwan. Legco was scheduled to take up the proposed amendments on June 12, but large-scale demonstrations on June 9 and 12 led Chief Executive Lam to announce on June 15 the suspension of consideration of the bill. On June 16, Hong Kong protesters gathered in even larger numbers in opposition to the amendments. Since then, large-scale protests have been held in Hong Kong every week, as the focus of the demonstrations has expanded beyond the extradition bill to an expression of general dissatisfaction with the status of Hong Kong under China's policy of one country, two systems. On October 23, 2019, Secretary for Security John Lee Ka-chiu formally withdrew the proposed amendments, but the protests are expected to continue. What is the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (FO0)? The FOO establishes the process by which the HKSAR government administers extradition requests from other governments, including those with which the HKSAR has an extradition agreement (such as the United States). It also specifies which types of crimes are eligible for extradition. Why propose the FOO amendments? The HKSAR government has offered two reasons to amend the FOO. The first broad reason is to allow extradition of people to other parts of the People's Republic of China (PRC), including Macau, mainland China, and Taiwan. The second specific reason is to permit the extradition of Hong Kong permanent resident Chan Tong-kai to Taiwan to face trial for the alleged murder of his girlfriend while they were vacationing in Taiwan in February 2018. After serving 19 months in Hong Kong for money-laundering, Chan was released on October 23, 2019, and has offered to voluntarily return to Taiwan to face murder charges. How would extradition requests from mainland China be administered under the proposed amendments? The FOO amendments would have changed how the HKSAR government can extradite people to jurisdictions with which the HKSAR does not have an extradition agreement. Under the current FOO, the HKSAR government must ask Legco for permission to consider such an extradition request. The FOO amendments would have created a new special surrender arrangement that would eliminate the need to obtain Legco's approval, including requests from mainland China. Should U.S. citizens be concerned? If the FOO amendments had been adopted, any U.S. citizen residing in, visiting, or transiting through Hong Kong could have been extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China. In addition, if the MLAO amendments had been approved, PRC security officers could request that HKSAR security officers assist criminal investigations against U.S. citizens, including conducting searches of suspects' homes or businesses. The State Department estimated that there were 85,000 U.S. citizens residing in Hong Kong in 2018. Does the United States have an extradition agreement with Hong Kong? Yes, that agreement sets the terms for extradition requests between Hong Kong and the United States, which are then administered in Hong Kong in accordance with the FOO. Why was the PRC excluded from the original FOO? Legco passed the FOO in March 1997, four months before the United Kingdom transferred sovereignty over Hong Kong to the PRC. According to Hong Kong's last colonial Governor Chris Patten and others, China was intentionally excluded from the FOO because its legal and judicial systems were not up to international standards. Chief Executive Lam has claimed, however, that the exclusion of China from the FOO was an oversight. Do the current FOO and/or the proposed amendments protect people from false or politically-based charges, or human rights abuses after extradition to mainland China? The current FOO, as well as the proposed amendments, include some safeguards, such as prohibiting the extradition of a person for an offence of a political character. They also prohibit the extradition of people who were convicted in absentia, or where the sentence could be the death penalty. Opponents fear the PRC will use the extradition https:/crsreportscog gressgo,

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most