Prisoner pact: Finnish Minister of Justice Johannes Koskinen and Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee sign the bilateral agreement on the surrender of fugitive offenders.

Hong Kong and Finland have signed a bilateral agreement on the surrender of fugitive offenders. It is the 14th Hong Kong has signed on the subject.

Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee and Finnish Minister of Justice Johannes Koskinen signed the document today. It sets out the conditions for the surrender of fugitive offenders and contains safeguards including:

* the double criminality rule - the conduct in respect of which a person's return is required must constitute an offence punishable by imprisonment for more than one year according to the law of both parties;

* the death penalty - surrender shall be refused if the offence for which surrender of a fugitive is requested is punishable with the death penalty;

* the prima facie rule - a requirement that the evidence against the person sought by the requesting party should be sufficient to justify their committal for trial according to the law of the requested party;

* the political offences rule - surrender shall be refused if the offence in question is an offence of a political character;

* the specialty rule - a person returned must not be tried for offences other than those for which they were surrendered; and,

* protection against re-surrender to a third jurisdiction.

The Fugitive Offenders Ordinance provides the necessary legislative backing for the implementation of the agreement concerned.

The agreement will come into force 30 days after both sides have notified each other in writing that their respective requirements for the entry into force of the agreement have been complied with.