Obituary | Archives law push must succeed for sake of good governance
- Hong Kong’s lack of legislation ensuring important records are preserved is an obvious failing, and a commission is recommending this is put right
A government needs to be transparent and accountable to its citizens if its policies are to be trusted and embraced. Hong Kong’s lack of laws ensuring important records are preserved is an obvious failing. The Law Reform Commission has made the right move in recommending legislation in a report coinciding with a consultation process that ends next month. Authorities have for years been all but deaf to the calls from lobbyists, but the issue is so important that they have to take the views expressed seriously.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has put on record her support for an archives law, saying she places “great importance” on the integrity of government records and would act on the commission’s report. That was in 2017; a law subcommittee of the independent organisation has been studying the issue for five years, giving particular attention to archive legislation and practice in Australia, England, Ireland, New Zealand and Singapore. But people pushing for a law are concerned that authorities will continue to drag their feet or water down provisions and, as a result, make it toothless. One argument is that not making civil servants legally accountable for decisions would give them great discretion as to what to keep or destroy.
Government urged to pass archives law by reform commission
Hong Kong has a patchy record when it comes to protecting and preserving vital documents and data. The absence of legislation means that bureaus and departments choose what they consider important for the archives; after 30 years have lapsed, they pass it on to the Government Records Service for further sifting and management. With much business being carried out electronically, there are added challenges in ensuring historically important documents are not lost. There are no penalties for failing to hand over files or for mishandling them, as on the mainland, and a code on access to information has no legal sanction for non-compliance.
The lack of laws was less problematic when Hong Kong was a British colony; archive regulations meant documents that could not be found in the city could often be located in Britain. Under Chinese sovereignty, it is not certain whether such backup exists. The city’s history since July 1, 1997, is dotted with significant events that researchers and journalists are eager to pour over the records of. The lack of laws creates a particular problem, though; have minutes of sensitive meetings such as those during the Occupy protests in 2014 even been kept?
Proper archives and open access are hallmarks of good governance; they enable citizens to monitor performance. Officials can learn lessons from research and analysis of archived material. A significant step has been taken with the consultation. The government has to see the process through.
