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Abandoning Hong Kong legal treaties gets full support from inquiry
A federal parliamentary inquiry strongly supports the decision to suspend legal treaties between Australia and Hong Kong amid ongoing trade and political tensions.
Naomi Neilson
A joint standing committee holding an inquiry into suspending an extradition treaty and the mutual legal assistance treaty between Australia and Hong Kong amid the tensions between the two governments has thrown its strong support behind the decision.
Chair of the inquiry Dave Sharma MP said: “The committee heard imposition by China of its National Security Law in Hong Kong fundamentally altered the status and raised serious concerns about the independence of the judiciary in Hong Kong and continued application of the rule of law and other fundamental principles of justice.”
The Law Council of Australia (LCA) president Pauline Wright addressed the committee in September to support suspending the treaties, noting the National Security Law had significantly undermined independence of Hong Kong’s judiciary as well as the region’s autonomy under a “one country, two systems” policy.
“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.
Naomi Neilson
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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