Another session of the Legislative Council panel on security is being held today as part of the government's attempt to enact covert surveillance legislation within the six-month period provided by Justice Michael Hartmann in his judgment last month.
Already, almost a month has gone by. Legco normally adjourns for the summer in July, which means that only four months remain. That is not normally sufficient time to draft, examine and adopt important legislation, which this clearly is.
The Hartmann decision said that while there was no legal basis for government snooping, it could continue during the grace period. But there is an appeal against that ruling: if upheld, the appeal would leave the government with no legal leg on which to stand. It would have to immediately halt all covert surveillance and interception of communications, a nightmare scenario from a law-enforcement point of view.
Much remains to be done. The government's disclosure that law-enforcement agencies had conducted 348 covert surveillance operations involving 170 cases in the final three months of last year shows just how big the problem is, and how regularly the government is intruding into people's privacy. And many legislators suspect that the figures do not reflect the real dimensions of covert surveillance operations.
The secretary for security, Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong, has said that if the appeal court strikes down the grace period, he would be prepared to call Legco into session to pass emergency legislation.
However, Mr Lee's confidence that the legislature will support the government may be misplaced. Clearly, the democratic camp is not inclined to go along with this scenario, and even other lawmakers who may normally be counted on to support the government have indicated that they are tired of being taken for granted.
There is a real chance that the government may discover that it does not have the votes to push through emergency legislation to allow it to continue its covert operations.
