Research Of The Mainland And Hong Kong Cross-border Money Laundering Crime Investigation And Evidence Collection Assistance

On July 1st,1997,the Chinese government resumed sovereignty over Hong Kong,and Hong Kong became a special administrative region of China based on the Chinese constitution and the basic law of Hong Kong.Although Hong Kong has returned to her motherland,she has practiced the British legal system for a long time;moreover,according to the “one country,two systems” principle,Hong Kong enjoys high autonomy on the executive,legislative and judicial practices.Therefore,two different legal systems have been formed between Hong Kong and the Mainland.With the growing bonding between the Mainland and Hong Kong,the number of cross-border crimes is ever increasing.For the transnational and trans-regional nature of money laundering crimes,Hong Kong-as an international financial center with high level of financial freedom and relatively loose financial regulation-has become an “ideal” money laundering place for organized criminal groups.Therefore,the arrangement of assistance between the mainland and Hong Kong in investigations on cross-border money laundering crimes has caught wide attentions of many criminal law experts at both sides.This article starts with elaborating the basic theories of Mainland-Hong Kong crossborder money laundering crimes and the generation of investigation and evidence collection assistance in the two regions.The concepts of cross-border crime and money laundering crime are introduced.The different legal-region patterns generated under the “one country,two systems” in Mainland and Hong Kong and the resultant conflicts in the cross-border money laundering crime interregional criminal jurisdiction are analyzed.Then,the overview of the evidence investigation assistances in Mainland and Hong Kong cross-border money laundering crimes is analyzed.Combining with the relevant laws and regulations and successful cases of investigation assistance,content and mechanisms of the evidence investigation assistances in Mainland and Hong Kong cross-border money laundering crimes is elaborated: due to various limitations,for the time being the evidence investigation assistances on cross-border money laundering crimes are practiced under the mechanisms of “judicial request” and “cases negotiation”.The pros and cons of these two mechanisms are evaluated.Based on the above,the study discusses in-depth of the existing problems of evidence investigation assistances in Mainland and Hong Kong cross-border money laundering crimes,including the existing problems under the mechanisms of judicial request and cases negotiation.Furthermore,suggestions on construction of the Mainland and Hong Kong cross-border money laundering crime investigation assistance system are proposed.The construction is divided into two stages: the first stage is “negotiation on individual cases,separative legislation” model;The second stage is to sign the mainland and Hong Kong interregional criminal investigation assistance agreement.The article aims to offer some reference for the Mainland and Hong Kong cross-border money laundering crime investigation assistance work and the development of investigation assistance agreements in the future.