National security law: commission headed by Hong Kong leader and supervised by Beijing to oversee new legislation

Name: China says detained Canadians should be held responsible for ‘the crime of spying’
Uploaded: 2020-06-20T03:55:44.000Z
Duration: 1 min 6 s
Description: China says detained Canadians should be held responsible for ‘the crime of spying’

City’s leader will also have the right to appoint former or incumbent judges – meaning foreign ones will not be expressly ruled out as previously feared

Details were outlined hours after China’s top legislative body concluded its three-day meeting on laws that included the new national security legislation

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National People’s Congress delegates voted last month in support of a resolution for Hong Kong’s national security law, a draft of which is now expected to be published on Saturday. Photo: Kyodo

Natalie Wong,Gary CheungandTony Cheung

Published: 11:55am, 20 Jun 2020Updated: 11:17pm, 21 Jun 2020

Key points:

Hong Kong government should strengthen its efforts to monitor and manage schools and societies where national security is involved
Hong Kong government will set up a commission to safeguard national security, which will be chaired by the chief executive and include an adviser appointed by Beijing
Hong Kong leader to appoint designated judges to preside over cases
Common law principles such as presumption of innocence and other human rights safeguards will be ensured
A central government agency will be set up to analyse the national security situation in Hong Kong, and ‘monitor, supervise, coordinate and support’ the local government’s efforts, collect intelligence and handle relevant cases; mainland agents are required to follow Hong Kong laws
Hong Kong will lead enforcement of the law except in a ‘very few’ cases where Beijing will retain jurisdiction
The new law will override local legislation should conflicts arise

China’s new national security law for Hong Kong will be overseen by a commission led by the chief executive and supervised by Beijing but it will uphold human rights, the presumption of innocence and other freedoms enjoyed by the city, according to state media.

The city’s leader would have the right to appoint former or incumbent judges – meaning foreign ones would not be expressly ruled out as previously feared – but the directive was immediately seized upon by critics as a fundamental shift diminishing the city’s autonomy and rule of law.

The new national security commission to be led by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor would also have a central government adviser appointed to it, in keeping with the rationale that the legislation would be a national law.

While Hong Kong would be in charge of the enforcement of the law, Beijing retained the right to overrule the city on certain rare cases, according to details of the legislation spelled out in a press statement by state news agency Xinhua on Saturday evening.

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China says detained Canadians should be held responsible for ‘the crime of spying’

In the release issued after China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, concluded its three-day meeting deliberating on laws – including the new national security legislation – Xinhua made plain how Beijing had the final say over the law’s implementation.

“For Hong Kong laws that are not in line with this [impending national security] law, this law’s requirements will apply, and the right to interpret this law lies with the National People’s Congress Standing Committee,” it said.