John Lee vows ‘prudent’ use of power to define national security offences
Leader rejects concerns over centralisation of power, citing ‘state players’, sensitive information and ‘special responsibility’ to safeguard security
Hong Kong’s leader has pledged to exercise prudence and seriousness when defining national security offences under new legislation, dismissing concerns about a centralisation of power and stressing that the process often involves “state players” and highly sensitive information.
The subsidiary legislation, which introduces a classification mechanism for “other offences endangering national security” under Hong Kong’s domestic national security law, was gazetted and came into force on Tuesday.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said the subsidiary legislation would bring greater clarity to the administration of justice.
Under the new law, any case accompanied by a certificate from the chief executive confirming it involves national security will be subject to all investigation, detention and trial procedures applicable to such offences, including stricter bail conditions and trials before designated judges.
The gazetted legislation stipulates that a case can be identified as a national security offence even if the act or the prosecution occurred before the Beijing-enacted national security law came into force in 2020. The alternative offences faced by national security defendants will also be classified as such.
The law also does not specify a “cut-off point” for the chief executive to issue such a certificate, despite stating that it applies when a person is under investigation, under arrest or charged.