Journalists and lawyers slam law proposal that will mean sensitive documents remain under wraps forever in Hong Kong
- Under Law Reform Commission proposal on regulating access to information, 12 categories of papers will never be made available to public
- For another 11 categories, officials will decide whether to disclose information after weighing pros and cons
While welcoming the much anticipated law, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and Bar Association both voiced reservations about blanket exemptions that meant officials could refuse requests regardless of the public interest.
Under a proposal by a Law Reform Commission (LRC) subcommittee to regulate access to information, 12 categories including Exco papers or deliberations, court records, material related to law enforcement, defence and security, and people’s privacy would be considered to have “absolute exemption” and would not be made available to the public.
For another 11 categories, officials would choose whether to disclose information by weighing the pros and cons against the public interest, including a department’s internal discussions or research.
Under the current guidelines, the Code of Access to Information, there are 16 areas exempted, seven fewer than the combined number in the LRC proposal. The LRC said the two types of exemptions it proposed followed the practice in overseas jurisdictions.
“The proposal is even worse than the code,” Hong Kong Journalists Association vice-chairwoman Shirley Yam Mei-ching said on Monday.