Hong Kong’s member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee Tam Yiu-chung said on Sunday that he thinks Article 23 national security legislation can be completed in the first half of next year.

Secretary for Security Chris Tang said recently that now is the best time to draft local security legislation to "fill gaps" in the national security law, and he hopes to complete the relevant work during the next Legislative Council term.

Tam said he hadn't spoken to Tang about this and his time frame is purely his own estimate.

"It seems in the new Legislative Council term, there's a few months, hopefully they can complete this work in the first half of next year," Tam said after attending a Commercial Radio programme.

He insisted that the legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law will only affect a small number of people.

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MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Junior barrister Terence, who requested a pseudonym for fear of retaliation, said the compendium is most useful when he is preparing for sentencing in his cases. The 25-year-old looks for precedents on the website by searching with keywords such as the magistrate’s name or the name of the offence, as opposed to scanning dozens of news clippings.

Terence said the magistrates themselves were also interested in knowing how their colleagues had handled cases linked to the citywide protests two years ago, especially when they involved juvenile defendants.

“Following the social movement, the whole sentencing landscape has changed. To put it simply, the sentences became heavier,” he said.

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DATA PRIVACY CONCERNS

A number of similar databases have sprung up in Hong Kong in recent years. Online news outlet Citizen News has an archive of key incidents in the months-long protests and the number of protesters charged over those events. Users may also look up a specific offence to find the relevant legal provisions and the number of people who faced that charge.

Ada said her team had referred to the existing platforms when they designed their own. She admitted their database was “less detailed” than they expected, with information such as the defendants’ gender and occupation and the case number excluded. They also avoid mentioning ongoing cases to minimise the risk of committing contempt of court.

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“We have thought about how the authorities may go after us and the only thing would be data privacy concerns. Showing a name may lead to more chances of getting complaints, especially from the prosecution,” she said.

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Ada and her teammates conducted “prudent risk assessment” and took other information security precautions by moving its domain from Singapore to another offshore domain. They also arranged cyber security training to prevent their electronic devices from being hacked.

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But Ada felt their work is not especially risky since information used to create the case summaries was all in the public domain. She said there was a database operated by the 803 Fund – founded by former chief executive Leung Chun-ying – which carries the defendants’ full names, ages and occupations, alongside bounties ranging from HK20,000 to HK$1 million for “wanted” protesters and activists.

“If we are targeted, in a fair world, then \[the 803 Fund] should come before us,” she said.

RULE OF LAW

The online archive will hopefully become a printed publication one day, Ada said, but the team will need to give thought to the index arrangement to match the standards of other legal bulletins or case digests.

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