Hong Kong colonial-era offences to be kept as part of city’s home-grown national security legislation

Colonial-era offences once said to be ‘rather wide’ and a potential violation of a civil rights convention are to stay on the books

New offence created to deter repeat of the 2019 social unrest to be added to the bill

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Secretary for Justice Paul Lam (left), Chief Executive John Lee (centre) and Secretary for Security Chris Tang at a press conference on the Article 23 legislation earlier this week. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 10:30am, 1 Feb 2024Updated: 7:12pm, 1 Feb 2024

Hong Kong’s second bid to pass home-grown national security legislation has retained some colonial-era crimes more than 20 years ago considered to be “rather wide” and a potential violation of a civil rights convention.

It is also planned to add a new offence designed to deter a repeat of the 2019 social unrest.

The consultation document on Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, released on Tuesday also said the government wanted to impose extraterritorial jurisdiction, but did not mention which offences would be covered, as it did in a paper for the later withdrawn 2003 legislation.

Penalties for each of the proposed offences were suggested at the time, but were omitted in the new consultation paper, a comparison by the Post found.

Crowds march from Victoria Park in Causeway Bay to the government offices in Admiralty in a 2003 protest against the original national security legislation. Photo: Martin Chan

The government said penalties would appear in the bill to be submitted to the legislature.

The city’s first attempt to pass a national security bill failed when the Liberal Party withdrew its support in the legislature after more than half a million people took to the streets in a protest over its provisions.