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Lack of confidence in Hong Kong law justifies suspending treaties, LCA says
The Law Council of Australia has addressed a committee investigating the suspension of treaties between Australia and Hong Kong amid ongoing political and legal tensions.
Naomi Neilson
Addressing the joint standing committee investigating the suspension of the extradition treaty and the mutual legal assistance treaty between Australia and Hong Kong, major legal body, the Law Council of Australia (LCA), said it is in support of measures taken by the government to suspend the agreements while in doubt of Hong Kong’s laws.
“The Law Council is of the view that suspension of these arrangements is appropriate and indeed consistent with the fundamental rules of law principles and of human rights obligations under international law,” Ms Wright told the joint standing committee.
The focus of the committee is the technical basis for suspension, rather than a detailed articulation of the underlying reasons as to why Australia is seeking to suspend these agreements, Ms Wright clarified, adding these underlying reasons have LCA’s support.
Ms Wright said the National Security Law has substantially undermined independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary as well as the region’s autonomy under a “one country, two systems” policy. The law, she said, also permits security and intelligence agencies of the People’s Republic of China to “act outside local laws in carrying out their duties”.
“The broadly defined offences of sedition, secession, terrorism and collusion with any foreign forces in our view undermine rights protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the application of which is preserved in Hong Kong under the basic law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration,” Ms Wright said.
Due to the extraterritoriality of the law, Ms Wright said they may not only affect China’s residents but Australians whose extradition may be sought from offshore.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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