Breadth and penalties of Hong Kong’s domestic national security law under scrutiny
- Government’s consultation paper focuses on five targeted activities, five new crimes and 14 changes to existing laws
- But paper does not spell out new penalties nor specify scope of extraterritorial application of law
Hong Kong’s proposed domestic national security legislation has incorporated new offences drawn from overseas references, but the scope of its coverage, the severity of penalties and the length of the public consultation period remain under scrutiny.
The government released a 110-page consultation paper on Tuesday on legislating Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, that focused on five targeted activities, five new crimes and 14 changes to existing laws.
The 30-day consultation period, which began on Tuesday and will run through the Lunar New Year holiday, is far shorter than the three-months provided in 2003, when the government tried to pass the legislation but gave up in the face of massive public opposition. The government intends for the bill to pass this year.
The paper did not spell out the new penalties nor did it specify the scope of the extraterritorial application of the law. It only cited foreign examples as references for the penalties.
For example, in introducing the offence of insurrection, the government said Australia imposed life sentences for similar crimes.