Read the full judgment text of FACV 000001/1999 on BabelCite. This FACV judgment was delivered on 4 October 1999 before Chief Justice Li, Mr Justice Litton PJ, Mr Justice Ching PJ, Mr Justice Bokhary PJ and Lord Cooke of Thorndon NPJ.
Constitutional law – habeas corpus – prisoner transfer – Transfer of Sentenced Persons Ordinance (Cap. 513) s.10(1) – construction – constitutionality – Basic Law – Hong Kong permanent residents convicted of drug trafficking in Thailand and transferred to Hong Kong under the Anglo-Thai prisoner transfer treaty before 1 July 1997 handover – First issue: whether s.10(1) of Cap. 513 covers the appellants' situation as a tailor-made deeming provision deeming pre-handover warrants to be inward warrants under the Ordinance – held yes – language is plain and does not accommodate a narrow 24-day pre-handover reading – Second issue: whether s.10(1) was constitutional before the handover under the Hong Kong Letters Patent – held yes – 'peace, order and good government' power in Article VII(1) is wide enough to authorize such a provision per Rediffusion (Hong Kong) Ltd v. Attorney General – Third issue: whether s.10(1) remains constitutional under the Basic Law after the handover, having regard to Articles 8, 28 and 153 – held yes – Article 153 expressly permits international agreements to which the PRC is not a party but which are implemented in Hong Kong to continue to be implemented in the HKSR – the Anglo-Thai treaty was being implemented in Hong Kong at the time of the handover by means of s.10(1) – therefore constitutional and maintained by Article 8 – detention is not arbitrary or unlawful under Article 28 – Appeal dismissed with costs – legal aid taxation of appellants' own costs ordered
Legal issues: Construction of section 10(1) of the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Ordinance · Constitutionality of section 10(1) before the handover · Constitutionality of section 10(1) under the Basic Law after the handover
Outcome: Appeal dismissed
Cited by 1 case