Authorities' power to destroy intelligence obtained by phone tapping could deprive defendants of evidence that might be useful to their defence and their right to a fair trial, lawmakers argued yesterday.
Their concerns were expressed as the bills committee studying the new covert surveillance law continued a marathon effort to finish its task before the Legislative Council recess on July 12.
The committee completed its clause-by-clause scrutiny of the bill in a five-hour meeting. The proceedings were dominated by concerns about the implications for fair trials because of the rules governing the admissibility of evidence obtained by covert surveillance.
But the bill has yet to go through amendments proposed by the government.
One lawmaker said the regulations relied too much on the 'conscience of prosecutors' to do the right thing, while another said authorities could effectively destroy evidence that could have provided a criminal suspect with an alibi.
The issue was thrown into controversy in an ICAC case in which prominent lawyers Kevin Egan and Andrew Lam Ping-cheung were jailed last week.
Lawyers for Lam had claimed that crucial evidence intercepted by the ICAC was destroyed, despite a letter from Lam seeking its preservation.