Prescribed boundaries ensure joint checkpoint’s legitimacy

Immigration laws fall under the scope of sovereignty but putting all relevant legislation into Annex III would be unworkable, writes

On Dec 27 the National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved the cooperation agreement between Guangdong province and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to establish the Mainland Port Area at the West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link in order to implement the co-location of customs and immigration control facilities. This completed the second step of the three-step process that will establish the arrangement’s legality. Now only the last step, local legislation, remains to be done. The opposition camp criticized this arrangement, claiming it will set a dangerous precedent that could infringe upon local jurisdiction.

There is an allegation that the co-location arrangement breaches Article 22(1) of the Basic Law which states that neither personnel nor departments from the Chinese mainland shall interfere in the internal affairs of Hong Kong. However, it should be noted that the co-location arrangement will not give the central government an opportunity to interfere with the internal affairs of the HKSAR; it only involves cooperation between the two jurisdictions on matters relating to immigration, customs and quarantine control. Officers from both the mainland and Hong Kong will only adjudicate their matters within the designated and confined zone. The proposed co-location arrangement is similar to the boundary control model of the Shenzhen Bay Port, where Hong Kong officers can only carry out their duties according to Hong Kong laws within the agreed port area.

As the proposed Mainland Port Area entails exercise of jurisdiction by mainland boundary control officers, some people — including members of the opposition — argue that the co-location arrangement must invoke Article 18(2) of the Basic Law. In other words, the central authorities have to apply the relevant national laws upon Hong Kong through Annex III of the Basic Law to let mainland officers execute their duties in accordance with national laws within the designated port zone. Under Annex III, a number of national laws are to be applied to Hong Kong. National laws not listed in Annex III shall not apply in