Bar Association raps officials for ‘flawed’ argument, says mainland laws at joint checkpoint will affect all Hongkongers
This is because everyone in city is a potential passenger of the high-speed rail, it argues, rebutting authorities’ claim that legal arrangement will apply only to travellers
All individuals in Hong Kong – not just travellers at the West Kowloon terminus of the cross-border rail link to Guangzhou – would be affected by a controversial arrangement for mainland officials to enforce national laws in part of the station, the city’s Bar Association said on Thursday.
In a statement, the professional organisation of barristers said “everyone is a potential passenger of the high-speed rail” and therefore the government’s efforts to push through a bill on the joint checkpoint plan centred on a “flawed” argument. Authorities had insisted such laws would only apply to travellers in a designated area of the terminus.
“The fact that a law may not have immediate practical consequences for a person unless they step into a particular arena does not mean that the law does not apply to all persons,” the association added.
Hong Kong Bar Association ‘appalled’ by approval of joint checkpoint plan, saying it ‘irreparably’ breaches Basic Law
The Basic Law states no mainland Chinese law shall be applied in the city except for those relating to defence, foreign affairs and “other matters outside the limits” of Hong Kong’s autonomy.
They stressed that Hongkongers should judge the rail link based on the economic benefits it would bring the city, and noted the joint checkpoint would save time and spare travellers from the hassle of going through border inspection twice.