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Hong KongLaw and Crime

Hong Kong Bar Association ‘appalled’ by approval of joint checkpoint plan, saying it ‘irreparably’ breaches Basic Law

Organisation slams top legislative body’s decision on co-location arrangement for cross-border rail link, calling it most retrograde step since 1997

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The arrangement will allow mainland officials to enforce national laws in part of the West Kowloon terminus of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed rail link. Photo: David Wong
Elizabeth Cheung

Hong Kong’s Bar Association was “appalled” by a decision made by China’s top legislative body on a joint checkpoint plan for a cross-border rail link, saying the move was the most retrograde step since 1997, with the city’s mini-constitution being “irreparably breached” and the rule of law “severely” undermined.

The statement released by the association late on Thursday night came after the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) on Wednesday approved a plan for mainland officials to enforce national laws in part of the West Kowloon station, which will be the Hong Kong terminus for an express rail link connecting the city to Guangzhou.
The association said that the decision concerning the co-location arrangement was not supported by any provisions in the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution. The association said it was “appalled” when the NPCSC approved the plan and confirmed it was consistent with the country’s constitution and the Basic Law without stating any basis.
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“This plainly amounts to an announcement by the NPCSC that the cooperation agreement complies with the constitution and the Basic Law ‘just because the NPCSC says so’,” the statement said.

The National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved the plan on Wednesday. Photo: Phila Siu
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved the plan on Wednesday. Photo: Phila Siu
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“Such an unprecedented move is the most retrograde step to date in the implementation of the Basic Law and severely undermines public confidence in ‘one country, two systems’ and the rule of law in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.”

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