Why Rush The Extradition Bill, Asks Alvin Yeung

Civic Party leader Alvin Yeung on Friday slammed the government for rejecting the opposition's proposals over the controversial plan to change extradition laws and questioned why the administration is insisting on a speedy passage of its bill.

"We are talking about such an important bill, fundamentally changing Hong Kong's legal system without any public consultation, what is the rush?" the opposition lawmaker asked.

"If the government is saying that they wish to settle the Taiwan murder case, the pan-dems' proposal of the sunset clause or the Civic Party's proposal on extraterritorial jurisdiction are the best solutions," he said. However, the government has already rejected both the ideas.

Writing in several newspaper op-eds, Security Secretary John Lee dismissed the suggestion put by the pan-democratic parties to have a sunset clause – limiting the legal changes to just one case.

Lee wrote that officials would then have to go through the legislative process for each additional extradition case in future.

The Civic Party had offered another plan to end the controversy by proposing to give local courts the power to handle murder and manslaughter cases from other jurisdictions in which Hong Kong residents are the suspects.

Yeung said there has been no response from the government so far on this proposal.

The government's plan is to allow one-off extraditions to places Hong Kong does not have formal treaties with, including the mainland. This has raised concerns from the legal and business sectors, as well as some foreign governments that Hong Kong’s criminal justice system will be undermined, along with its commitment to protecting human rights.