Header Image: Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung
They won’t be having much trouble getting any changes through the legislature.
SCMP reports
Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung says government studying court case to understand how law can be better applied
Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan weighed in on Saturday after the apex court quashed the convictions earlier in the week, marking the first successful legal challenge over the implementation rules of the Beijing-imposed national security law.
“The legislation regarding national security is not in a completed form, but in a continuous form,” Cheung said after appearing on a radio show.
He added that activities endangering the country changed constantly.
Sun Qingye, deputy director of Beijing’s Office for Safeguarding National Security in Hong Kong, also said on Friday that the implementation of the law should continue to be improved.
He noted any decisions on whether to amend the law would rest with the country’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress.
The Court of Final Appeal on Thursday overturned the lower courts’ decisions by ruling that the trio from the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China were deprived of a fair trial.
The government said in response that it would study the judgment and the relevant legal principles, while also reviewing its experience in taking law enforcement action to safeguard national security.
Former vice-chairwoman Chow Hang-tung and ex-standing committee members Tsui Hon-kwong and Tang Ngok-kwan from the now-dissolved group were convicted by a lower court for refusing to provide police with details about the alliance’s members, donors, financial reports and activities in September 2021.
The trio, who had been sentenced to 4½ months’ jail in 2023, launched the first legal challenge over the implementation rules of the Beijing-imposed national security law.
The rules empower the police chief to request a range of information from a suspected foreign agent or one with links to Taiwan.
Chow, a barrister by profession, represented herself in the proceedings and argued they were not given a fair trial to defend themselves as the prosecution had redacted key evidence that alleged the alliance was a foreign agent. The top court sided with the appellants.
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