Hong Kong Bar Association calls for clearer provisions in home-grown national security law, warns of ‘chilling effect’ in absence of certainty
- Legal sector group submits views as part of public consultation over security law, which authorities say recorded overwhelming support
- Bar Association calls for clearer definitions and narrower scopes for proposed offences
A position paper released by the legal sector body on Thursday urged the increased clarity and was among the 13,147 submissions authorities received in a month-long public consultation over the security law. The period ended on Wednesday, with authorities claiming that about 99 per cent of submissions voiced support for the legislation.
Bar Association chairman Victor Dawes said it recognised that Article 23 of the Basic Law, the city’s mini-constitution, imposed an important constitutional obligation on the city to pass the legislation, and that national security was of fundamental and critical importance to the country.
“I want to emphasise that the imperatives of protecting national security and the fundamental rights in Hong Kong can and should be understood and pursued as complementary parts of a single constitutional vision, that of a flourishing ‘one country, two systems’ [governing principle],” he said at a press conference.
But it was of vital importance that authorities made a proper and careful balance taking into account the constitutional guarantees of human rights and the rule of law, he said.
The proposed legislation, which will sit alongside the 2020 Beijing-imposed national security law, was designed to target five new types of offences – treason, insurrection, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage and external interference.
Many of the suggestions made by the association, which regulates the city’s 1,600 barristers, called for clearer definitions and narrower scopes for the offences proposed in the legislation’s consultation paper.