Hong Kong has entered into several surrender of fugitive offenders agreements with foreign states. The term surrender of fugitive offenders agreement is used in place of extradition treaty to signify Hong Kong's non-sovereign status. [1] As a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China since July 1997, Hong Kong is authorised by the Central Government of China to enter into such agreements, according to Article 96 of the Basic Law. [2] The legality of one such agreement was challenged in the US state of Connecticut, but the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the agreement entered into between Hong Kong and the US should be regarded as a 'treaty' under US law. [3]
Article 2(1)(a) of Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) allows the Hong Kong government to conclude arrangements of surrender of fugitive offenders with 'a place outside Hong Kong (other than any other part of the People's Republic of China)'. In 2019, the Carrie Lam administration proposed an amendment bill to enable Hong Kong to enter into 'special surrender arrangements' with 'a place outside Hong Kong', including other parts of the People's Republic of China. [4] Oppositions to the bill evolved to a series of wide-range protests and the bill was withdrawn.
On 30 June 2020, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing enacted a national security law to be imposed in Hong Kong. Several countries have since suspended the agreements with Hong Kong. In response, China and Hong Kong (on the central government's instruction) announced the suspension of Hong Kong's extradition treaties with Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany and the United States, as well as the shelving of a pending treaty with France, [5] [6] [7] [8] along with the suspension of some bilateral mutual legal assistance agreements.
Country | Date signed | Entered into force | Order | Text | Status | Extradition treaty with China |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australia | 15 November 1993 | 29 June 1997 | Fugitive Offenders (Australia) Order | Cap. 503C Schedule 1 | Suspended | No |
19 March 2007 | 7 May 2008 | Fugitive Offenders (Australia) (Amendment) Order 2007 | Cap. 503C Schedule 2 | |||
Canada | 7 September 1993 | 13 June 1997 | Fugitive Offenders (Canada) Order | Cap. 503B Schedule | Suspended | No |
Czech Republic | 4 March 2013 | 13 February 2015 | Fugitive Offenders (Czech Republic) Order | Cap. 503AI Schedule | In force | No |
List of the Offences for which Surrender May be Granted | List provided under Article 3(2) | |||||
Finland | 20 May 2005 | 15 August 2013 | Fugitive Offenders (Finland) Order | Cap. 503W Schedule | Suspended | No |
France | 4 May 2017 | — | Fugitive Offenders (France) Order | Cap. 503AJ Schedule | Suspended [lower-alpha 1] | Yes |
Germany | 26 May 2006 | 11 April 2009 | Fugitive Offenders (Germany) Order | Cap. 503X Schedule | Suspended | No |
India | 28 June 1997 | 14 November 1997 | Fugitive Offenders (India) Order | Cap. 503P Schedule | In force | No |
Indonesia | 5 May 1997 | 13 July 2001 | Fugitive Offenders (Indonesia) Order | Cap. 503O Schedule | In force | Yes |
Ireland | 5 October 2007 | 14 January 2009 | Fugitive Offenders (Ireland) Order | Cap. 503AF Schedule | Suspended | No |
South Korea | 26 June 2006 | 11 February 2007 | Fugitive Offenders (Republic of Korea) Order | Cap. 503Y Schedule | In force | Yes |
Malaysia | 11 January 1995 | 16 June 2001 | Fugitive Offenders (Malaysia) Order | Cap. 503D Schedule 1 | In force | No |
17 October 2006 | 1 November 2007 | Fugitive Offenders (Malaysia) (Amendment) Order 2007 | Cap. 503D Schedule 2 | |||
Netherlands | 2 November 1992 | 20 June 1997 | Fugitive Offenders (Netherlands) Order | Cap. 503A Schedule 1 | Suspended | No |
17 February 2015 | 21 May 2016 | Fugitive Offenders (Netherlands) (Amendment) Order 2016 | Cap. 503A Schedule 2 | |||
New Zealand | 3 April 1998 | 23 October 1998 | Fugitive Offenders (New Zealand) Order | Cap. 503S Schedule | Suspended | No |
Philippines | 13 January 1995 | 20 June 1997 | Fugitive Offenders (Philippines) Order | Cap. 503E Schedule | In force | No |
Portugal | 24 May 2001 | 7 November 2004 | Fugitive Offenders (Portugal) Order | Cap. 503U Schedule | In force | No |
Singapore | 11 November 1997 | 11 June 1998 | Fugitive Offenders (Singapore) Order | Cap. 503Q Schedule | In force | No |
South Africa | 20 February 2009 | 2 December 2011 | Fugitive Offenders (South Africa) Order | Cap. 503AH Schedule | In force | Yes |
Sri Lanka | 3 September 1999 | 19 April 2003 | Fugitive Offenders (Sri Lanka) Order | Cap. 503V Schedule | In force | Pending |
United Kingdom | 5 November 1997 | 19 March 1998 | Fugitive Offenders (United Kingdom) Order | Cap. 503R Schedule | Suspended | No |
United States | 20 December 1996 | 21 January 1998 | Fugitive Offenders (United States of America) Order | Cap. 503F Schedule | Suspended | No |
In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdictions and depends on the arrangements made between them. In addition to legal aspects of the process, extradition also involves the physical transfer of custody of the person being extradited to the legal authority of the requesting jurisdiction.
Transnational crimes are crimes that have actual or potential effect across national borders and crimes that are intrastate but offend fundamental values of the international community. The term is commonly used in the law enforcement and academic communities. Transnational organized crime (TOC) refers specifically to transnational crime carried out by crime organizations.
Double criminality, or dual criminality, is a requirement in the extradition law and international prisoner transfers of many countries. It states that a suspect can be extradited from one country to stand trial for breaking a second country's law only if a similar law exists in the extraditing country, and that any crime in any sentencing country must also be a crime in any other country to receive any internationally transferred prisoners.
Extradition law in Australia permits the formal process by which a fugitive found outside a jurisdiction is surrendered to the jurisdiction where an alleged offence has taken place for trial or punishment. This may include a process done within the country or one between Australia and another country.
Hong Kong–United States relations are bilateral relations between Hong Kong and the United States.
Australia–Hong Kong relations are distinct to Australia-China relations. Hong Kong has the status of a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, and maintains its own international relations including those with Australia, as it is empowered to do under the Hong Kong Basic Law. Australia supports the Sino-British Joint Declaration, Hong Kong's mini-constitution, the Basic Law, and in accordance with China's policy of observing "one country, two systems". On the other hand, mainland China has stated that Hong Kong is within China's internal affairs.
A political offence exception is a provision which limits the obligation of a sovereign state under an extradition or mutual legal assistance treaty or statute. Such provisos allow the state whose assistance has been requested to refuse to hand over a suspect to – or to gather evidence on behalf of – another state, if the requested party's competent authority determines that the requesting party seeks assistance in order to prosecute an offence of a political character.
The United States–Hong Kong Agreement for the Surrender of Fugitive Offenders is an extradition treaty signed by the United States and British Hong Kong in 1996, with the approval of the People's Republic of China (PRC) which was scheduled to take over the administration in July 1997.
Canada–Hong Kong relations refers to international relations between Canada and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China. Canada and Hong Kong share a legal and political history as parts of the former British Empire, and Canada continues to maintain strong relations with Hong Kong. The Canadian government strongly supports Hong Kong's autonomy under Chinese sovereignty in accordance with the "one country, two systems" principle as provided for in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Hong Kong Basic Law, Hong Kong's de facto constitution.
The Sixth Legislative Council of Hong Kong was the sixth meeting of the legislative branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. Running from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2021, it was the longest legislative session in Hong Kong history, lasted for five years and three months. The term of the session was originally from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2020, but was extended by the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) due to the postponement of the 2020 Legislative Council election.
The administration of Carrie Lam as Chief Executive of Hong Kong, or Lam administration, officially referred to as "The 5th term Chief Executive of Hong Kong" relates to the period of governance of Hong Kong headed by Chief Executive Carrie Lam, between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2022.
Events in the year 2019 in Hong Kong.
The Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Legislation (Amendment) Bill 2019 was a proposed bill regarding extradition to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in relation to special surrender arrangements and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance so that arrangements for mutual legal assistance can be made between Hong Kong and any place outside Hong Kong. The bill was proposed by the Hong Kong government in February 2019 to establish a mechanism for transfers of fugitives not only for Taiwan, but also for Mainland China and Macau, which are currently excluded in the existing laws.
The 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests were a series of demonstrations against the Hong Kong government's introduction of a bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance in regard to extradition. It was the largest series of demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong.
The period from March to June 2019 in the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests is considered the early stage of the movement. Until the first mass demonstrations in June, protests were focused on the withdrawal of the extradition bill. In June, protesters started to lay out five demands. The additional four demands concerned the reactions of the Hong Kong government and especially, the police to the protests, and called more broadly for full democracy in the city.
Amber Poon Hiu-wing, a 20-year-old pregnant woman from Hong Kong, was killed in Taipei on 17 February 2018 whilst on vacation with her boyfriend Chan Tong-kai, aged 19 at the time and from Shenzhen. Chan admitted to Hong Kong authorities that he killed his girlfriend in a hotel room in Taipei, stole her belongings, left her body in the bushes, and flew back to Hong Kong. As the murder happened in Taiwan where they had no jurisdiction, the authorities in Hong Kong could not charge Chan with murder, and could only sentence him on money laundering charges resulting from the killing. Chan could not be extradited to Taiwan either since there is no extradition treaty between Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The Hong Kong national security law, officially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a national law of China on Hong Kong national security. It is implemented in Hong Kong in accordance to Hong Kong Basic Law Article 18, which allows for Chinese laws to be valid in Hong Kong if they are included in Annex III. It was formulated under the authorization of the National People's Congress decision on Hong Kong national security legislation. The law was passed on 30 June 2020 by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress as a means of resolving the anti-extradition bill protests instigated by a Hong Kong local bill proposed in 2019 to enable extradition to other territories including the mainland, and came into force the same day.
Executive Order 13936, entitled "The President’s Executive Order on Hong Kong Normalization", is an executive order signed by U.S. President Donald Trump on July 14, 2020. On the same day Trump had signed into law Hong Kong Autonomy Act, one of the laws from which the order derives authority. The act and the executive order are the U.S. response to the imposition of a controversial national security law in Hong Kong by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China on June 30, 2020, which was described as "an unusual and extraordinary threat [...] to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States" in the preamble.
The Hong Kong National Security Law is a piece of national security legislation passed on 30 June 2020 which was a major factor, besides the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying gathering regulations, in essentially ending the anti-extradition bill protests. The law established the crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign organisations. Implementation of the law entitles authorities to surveil, detain, search and extradite persons suspected under its provisions to Mainland China.
Article 96 of the Basic Law, "[w]ith the assistance or authorisation of the Central People's Government, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region may make appropriate arrangements with foreign states for reciprocal juridical assistance"