Hong Kong welfare minister throws support behind proposed law criminalising failure to report child abuse

Hong Kong’s welfare minister has thrown his weight behind a Law Reform Commission suggestion to create a new criminal offence punishing those who fail to protect children or other vulnerable people from death or serious harm.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Law Chi-kwong said on Monday that strict penalties for those who failed to report child abuse were necessary to prevent cases from falling through the cracks, though he did not say if he supported the commission’s proposed maximum jail term of 20 years.

“Let’s say that a teacher is well aware of abuse that’s going on, but does not regard it as serious enough and fails to report it … That could lead to the death of the child,” Law told a meeting of the Legislative Council’s welfare services panel.

Last week, the Law Reform Commission issued a report suggesting everyone who had a duty of care to a child or vulnerable person – including family members, teachers and social workers – should face up to 20 years behind bars if they failed to take “reasonable steps”, such as filing a police report, to protect the victim from abuse.

The commission said the change was needed to close a legal loophole that arose when perpetrators of abuse were difficult to identify.

The proposal is similar to a mandatory reporting system for suspected child abuse cases being explored by a cross-bureau working group set up in 2018.

Asked by lawmakers whether the proposed reporting system would be extended to vulnerable people such as the elderly, as suggested by the commission, Law said it was likely to focus on children first, and be expanded later to other groups in need.

He added the relevant legislation could take at least one to two years to formulate, as they would need to consult legal experts and professionals as to who the mandate would cover, including teachers, doctors and child care workers.