A decision to sue Tung Chee-hwa for dragging his feet over implementing a law on telephone tapping has moved a step closer. James To Kun-sun of the Democratic Party said initial advice from a lawyer suggested the case was pursuable on the basis of undue delay. Mr To's private member's bill, enacted before the handover, seeks to replace the system in which the Chief Executive or Chief Secretary for Administration can grant a phone tap with one requiring a judge's permission. 'Our case stands a good chance as the Government has been adopting delaying tactics for more than two years,' Mr To said. Detailed legal advice for the potential judicial review would be ready within weeks, he said. Earlier during yesterday's Legco sitting, Mr To and his party colleagues asked if the Government had deviated from its stance stated in a consultation paper on the Interception of Communications Ordinance. The administration said in the February 1997 document that it accepted the Law Reform Commission's key recommendations, including the proposed introduction of a system to obtain warrants from judges. Secretary for Security Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, however, fell short of making a fresh commitment that the Government had not changed its stance. Mrs Ip would only reiterate that the administration was reviewing whether the introduction of a judicial warrant system would be the best way forward. She would not give a timetable for implementation of Mr To's bill. She said his bill would pose immense difficulties to law enforcement agencies as it provided for no exemption clauses and the period of judicial warrant was far too short. A working group, chaired by Mrs Ip and comprising representatives from the Department of Justice, the police and the Independent Commission Against Corruption, has been set up to study how to improve the existing law. Despite criticisms from Emily Lau Wai-hing of The Frontier and Mr To, Mrs Ip maintained that the Government was not in breach of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Mr To pledged to alert the UN Human Rights Committee to Mrs Ip's remarks.
