Hong Kong does not need new offences for human trafficking and forced labour, government lawyer tells Court of Final Appeal

Wrongdoing is already criminalised through existing legislation, QC tells city’s most senior judges

Lawyer for forced labour victim says specific offences are vital for tackling ‘the most urgent problem of the 21st century’

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The horrific experience of forced labour victim Zn is at the centre of a landmark judicial review of the government’s response to modern day slavery. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:38pm, 4 Dec 2019Updated: 8:41pm, 4 Dec 2019

Hong Kong does not need specific offences to criminalise human trafficking and forced labour, according to lawyers defending the government against a landmark appeal.

The Court of Final Appeal case was brought by a Pakistani victim of forced labour in the city, named Zn, who blames the government for failing to protect him from being trafficked for that purpose because it had no dedicated legislation.

Lord David Pannick QC, for the government, on Wednesday accepted that Article 4 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance – prohibiting slavery, servitude and forced labour – had imposed a positive obligation on the authorities to take steps to protect victims and punish offenders.

David Pannick QC told the court inadequate training of government officials was to blame for Zn’s struggle for justice, rather than there being an issue with the legislation. Photo: Reuters

But the counsel argued that it did not mean the government had a legal obligation to create a specific criminal offence, as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights’ expert committee recognised that a state or jurisdiction may act by legislation or “other measures” in accordance with its constitutional processes.

“It is very much an issue of policy for the government to determine, subject to the supervisory control of the court,” Pannick said in reply to the judicial review. “This is a court of law – its function is not to make policy.”