Overseas lawyers will need approval to handle cases under Hong Kong’s Article 23 national security law, justice minister says
- Law required under Article 23 of Basic Law is on this year’s Legislative Council agenda and will cover treason, theft of state secrets, influence of foreign political groups
- Justice minister Paul Lam says government studying whether to add clause to new law that allows Beijing to exercise jurisdiction over cases covered by future legislation
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok on Saturday, however, did not confirm if the home-grown legislation would also have a clause allowing defendants to be sent to mainland China for certain cases as in the national security law, saying the government was still studying the need for such an “extreme” scenario in the local version.
The proposed law is on this year’s Legislative Council agenda and will cover offences such as treason, the theft of state secrets and the influence of foreign political groups in local affairs.
It will supplement the 2020 Beijing-imposed legislation which prohibits acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces.
Lam told a television programme that defendants charged under the future legislation would be subject to some of the same requirements laid out in the 2020 national security law, such as applying for permission to hire an overseas lawyer and stricter bail conditions.