Article 23 legislation passes another hurdle in Legco
A Legislative Council bills committee on Thursday finished vetting government amendments to the homegrown national security legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law. Committee chairman Martin Liao said he would give an oral report of the committee's work to the House Committee on Friday, before the bill is brought back to the full council for further debate. Lawmakers said the second reading of the bill should resume as soon as possible. Liao, meanwhile, said everyone at the meetings did their job, with legislators getting to ask the questions they wanted while officials gave the necessary answers. Secretary for Justice, Paul Lam, thanked lawmakers for their hard work in convening lengthy meetings over the past week, saying this was an important step towards completing the mission. "Not only did we need to submit homework that's been late for 27 years, the homework we submitted must be stringently in line with the legislative process, a piece of work that's of high quality that can score high marks," Lam said. "I hope all of us will continue to work hard under the principle of completing the enactment as soon as possible, so that we can have a stable environment and peace of mind." During the final bills committee meeting, legislators expressed support for the government's various amendments to the bill. One change would empower the Chief Executive in Council to make subsidiary legislation in safeguarding national security, and persons violating the subsidiary laws could be subject to a maximum seven-year jail term and a fine of HK$500,000.  The Department of Justice's Daphne Siu described the proposal as forward-looking, saying it would allow the authorities to deal with unforeseen circumstances when implementing security laws. "It is hard to include all kinds of details in the primary legislation. Therefore, we provide for a mechanism to make subsidiary legislation," she told lawmakers. "The Legislative Council is often empowered to authorise other organs to make subsidiary legislation, and this is commonplace in common law jurisdictions." In another amendment, the Chief Executive in Council would be empowered to designate members of certain public organisations as public officers, when it comes to cases involving incitement to disaffection and the handling of state secrets.   The Security Bureau said inciting disaffection in officers from these organisations would have a great impact on the SAR government's safety and interests. The government is also dropping its initial proposal to include a six-month period before action can be taken against people deemed to be absconders. Lawmakers had said giving absconders six months before authorities could take steps such as stripping them of their passports and professional qualifications, would be too lenient. And in the original bill, the government had provided a definition for what would constitute a misleading statement with regards to the crime of espionage in collusion with an external force. Officials now think the definition is not necessary and should be deleted, after lawmakers said the definition was too narrow.