My Take | Effective laws are needed to retain Hong Kong’s valuable archives

The dramatic events shaping Hong Kong in recent years, from the civil unrest of 2019 to the pandemic, need to be fully understood, so lessons can be learned. But to establish the full picture of these and other developments, official records must be preserved and the public given sufficient access to them. Most parts of the world have laws regulating the management of government archives. But not Hong Kong. The need for legislation is long overdue.

It has been 10 years since two Law Reform Commission (LRC) subcommittees were established to study archives and access to information laws. Both released consultation papers in 2018, supporting legislation. We are still waiting for their final reports to be published.

Over the years, questions have been raised about the government’s archiving system, which depends on internal administrative measures. Concerns have included missing documents and limits on public access.

The Ombudsman called for legislation in 2014. Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor supported an archives law in her first policy address after becoming chief executive in 2017 and promised to act on the LRC’s report. It was still pending when she stepped down last year. The consultation papers released in December 2018 came in for criticism. The archives report was broad and critics felt it did not go far enough. The freedom of information paper proposed too many exemptions restricting access.

But they provided a basis for public debate. Among the responses was one from the Archives Action Group (AAG), set up by concerned members of the public in 2008. The AAG proposed a robust archives law establishing an independent Records and Archives Authority with clearly defined powers. Its work would be monitored by a widely representative Archives and Records Council tasked with hearing appeals against decisions.