Joseph Lau Seeks Legal Challenge Over Extraditions

Fugitive tycoon Joseph Lau has applied for a judicial review over the government's plans to amend extradition laws, saying the threat of him being arrested and handed over to Macau has compelled him to "exile himself from Hong Kong".

Lau hasn't served a day behind bars despite being sentenced to five years and three months in prison in 2014, when a Macau court found him guilty of bribery and money laundering.

The former head of Chinese Estates did not attend the trial, claiming ill-health. He has never been at risk of rendition, because the two SARs have no formal arrangement in place.

But now the Carrie Lam administration is proposing to change the law to allow one-off extradition deals to any jurisdiction in the world.

In a judicial review application filed on Monday, Lau says he wants the High Court to review the proposal before lawmakers vote on it, as he says the law change would have immediate and irreversible effects.

He wants the court to declare that such a change in the law cannot be retroactive, as well as arguing that giving the Chief Executive “unbounded” discretion to order an extradition breaches the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights Ordinance.

The billionaire said in the application that because he was assured of legal protection against being surrendered to Macau, he got married in 2016 and his wife gave birth to their third child last year.

But the possibility of an extradition "to serve a manifestly unjust sentence" hangs over his head like a “considerable cloud”, which made him feel compelled to “exile himself from Hong Kong”, he said.

Two years ago, Lau passed control of his Chinese Estates business empire to family, saying the move was necessary due to his "very unstable health condition".

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