Govt seeks fast tracking of Article 23 legislation
The government on Friday asked the Legislative Council to expedite its vetting of homegrown national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law by waiving a customary 10-day pause in the legislative process. A bills committee finished its scrutiny of the proposed legislation on Thursday following more than 40 hours of debate, with the bill to be presented to the council’s House Committee on Friday afternoon before it is sent back to the full council to resume its second reading of the bill. However, Legco rules usually require a ten-day notice from officials before the second reading can resume – though the council president has the authority to waive this condition. Secretary for Security Chris Tang on Friday sent the House Committee a letter asking for members’ support for such a waiver, to allow the second reading to resume as soon as possible.  "Because the bills committee has completed its scrutiny of the bill, the SAR government appeals for the legislature's full support allowing the legislative process move on to the next stage at the fastest possible pace, for the earlier enactment of the law," Tang wrote. The bill was first gazetted on Friday last week, and Legco convened a special full session on the same day to fast track the bill. A bills committee was immediately set up to scrutinise the bill, and met daily over the next week to go through the bill clause by clause.