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Raquel Carvalho

Niall Fraser

Hong Kong's justice chief met his counterpart in Macau yesterday as the two special administrative regions move closer to sealing a historic deal on extradition.
Justice officials in both cities confirmed Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung met Macau's secretary for administration and justice, Sonia Chan Hoi-fan, in the former Portuguese enclave.
But the aides declined to elaborate on the discussion, saying the pair met "to discuss matters of mutual interest".
The meeting took place on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific symposium entitled "Towards the Well-Being of the Child through the Hague Child Abduction and Protection of Children Conventions", held in Macau.
Hong Kong and Macau are working to cement a closer relationship on the surrender of suspects and mutual judicial cooperation.
The discussion also came 48 hours after Hong Kong's director of public prosecutions, Keith Yeung Kar-hung, said it would be known in less than three months if former chief executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen would be charged over alleged crimes that might have taken place in Macau.
Last night, a source in Macau told the South China Morning Post: "Today's meeting doesn't necessarily mean a deal is imminent, but it could signal a degree of progress."
Inter-city talks on a deal over fugitive transfers have intensified during the past year. In July 2014, Yuen said their negotiations were at a "mature stage" and were making "quite good progress".
He said experts from both cities were negotiating on "revising and refining" the wording of detailed provisions.
Yuen also noted the agreement would stipulate "how past cases should be handled".
In the course of the talks, Sonia Chan replaced Florinda da Rosa Silva Chan, with whom negotiations had started, as Macau's secretary for administration and justice in December.
Then in January, a government source close to the discussions told the Post the upcoming extradition treaty could have a retroactive effect even if no specific clause was written into it.
According to the same source, under the treaty, fugitives who take refuge in one city to avoid punishment in the other will be sent back. Currently, those who are convicted do not have to serve sentences imposed in the other place.


Hong Kong and Macau justice chiefs meet as deal nears on extradition

Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung met Ho Chio Meng in this 2013 file photo. 

News

Hong Kong

Law and Crime

Hong Kong and Macau officials discuss 'matters of mutual interest', aides say
