Ten Days that Shocked the World: The Rendition Proposal in Hong Kong

Abstract

In June 2019, on two consecutive Sundays, millions of people took to the streets to oppose the proposed bill to amend the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance and the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Ordinance (the Bill). These were the largest ever demonstrations in the history of Hong Kong, and the peaceful demonstrations attracted world-wide attention and global admiration. Professor Albert Chen has explained the background to these protests in his analysis.1 This article will comment on a number of questions: (1) what led to the Bill? (2) why judicial guarantees were considered insufficient for the protection of human rights under the Bill? (3) what led to the suspension of the Bill? and (4) what are the implications on the governance of Hong Kong and the relationship between Hong Kong and the Mainland?