Pan-dems Moot Extradition Bill With Sunset Clause

In a joint bid on Tuesday, 24 pan-democratic lawmakers called on the government to table a separate extradition rule amendment which contains a sunset clause.

It would mean that the amendment would just work for a Taiwan murder case and would expire after this is resolved. Such a bill could be speedily passed, the opposition lawmakers said.

The lawmakers' call came after Chief Executive Carrie Lam said earlier in the day that she hoped lawmakers will work quickly to pass the bill before the case of a man wanted in Taiwan for the murder of his Hong Kong girlfriend is sentenced on April 29 for money laundering charges.

The Civic Party's Alvin Yeung said they are offering a way out for the government.

"The democrats are proposing a solution that is introducing a sunset clause and to amend the existing FOO [Fugitive Offenders Ordinance] that would be suitable to Taiwan," he said.

"With the sunset clause, there is an expiry date to this amendment law, so that we can go back to square one and start again, and decide and consult the public how and whether we should amend the existing FOO. That is the logic," Yeung said.

"The democrats have been saying that this is not a loophole. This is a safeguard to the Hong Kong people’s liberty. If – a big if – there is any loophole, then the government has to undertake a serious consultation, unlike what has been done," he said.

The lawmaker said this kind of proposal has been done before and he recalled that an amendment to liver transplant regulations was made to allow an under-aged daughter to become a donor for her mother.

"The democrats introduced a bill that allowed the patient’s young daughter to transfer her liver to the mother. We had experienced a very smooth procedure that the pro-establishment camp, the president of Legco and the government all agreed to waive the procedures and to have the bill’s first, second and third reading within a day," he said.