Changes to Hong Kong’s implementation rules for the national security law will improve operational efficiency amid heightened geopolitical risks, experts have said, while a criminal law specialist has argued that the amendments expand authorities’ powers and that some legal privacy protections may be too technical to apply.
Another legal expert and a former security minister said the amendments aimed to clearly lay out investigation procedures for searches under existing national security law powers, while an academic called the move necessary to address online threats that could involve external forces.
“There are new procedures, but there are no new powers or principles,” said Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a senior counsel who sits on the key decision-making Executive Council.
The changes include empowering police to require a person under investigation to provide passwords or decryption methods for electronic equipment, with non-compliance punishable by a maximum of one year’s imprisonment and a HK$100,000 (US$12,760) fine.
Customs officers were also empowered to seize articles deemed seditious, and authorities said they would set up applicable procedures and a strict timetable for processing claims of legal professional privilege involving materials seized by police for investigation.