Article 13 of the Basic Law provides that the Central People’s Government (CPG) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is responsible for foreign affairs relating to Hong Kong. Article 153 deals with the application of international agreements to Hong Kong and their implementation. The Vienna Convention, the Palermo Convention and the Terrorist Financing Convention are applied to Hong Kong under the provisions of Article 153.
The principal laws governing mutual legal assistance (MLA) in criminal matters in Hong Kong are the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (MLAO), Cap. 525 and the Evidence Ordinance, Cap. 8. The MLAO came into force in 1997. It regulates the provision and receipt of assistance in criminal matters between Hong Kong and places outside Hong Kong (excluding other parts of the PRC). The Fugitive Offenders Ordinance (Cap. 503) stipulates the requirements and procedures for the surrender of fugitive offenders (SFO) between Hong Kong and specified jurisdictions.
The MLA Unit of the Department of Justice (DoJ) discharges the responsibilities of the Central Authority of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for the purposes of mutual legal co-operation in criminal matters. The unit co-ordinates and processes requests to and from the HKSAR for MLA or SFO and advises the Government on applications for the transfer of sentenced persons to and from the HKSAR. The unit also performs an advisory role in relation to aspects of international criminal law and international legal co-operation in criminal matters.
For details on HKSAR’s operative bilateral Agreements for MLA and SFO with other jurisdictions, please refer to the website of DoJ.
Hong Kong is committed to observing the international obligations on anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), and has been playing an active role in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG). The Joint Financial Intelligence Unit (JFIU) of Hong Kong is also a member of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.