By Elson Tong
https://hongkongfp.com/author/elsontong/
Lawyers have expressed shock and concern at Hong Kong’s newly-enacted national security law, drafted by Beijing and kept from the public until its passing on Tuesday.
Solicitor-advocate and academic Eric Cheung wrote on Facebook that the law was “worse than the worst-case scenario he had predicted,” as the text represented the spirit of mainland China’s socialist legal system rather than Hong Kong’s common law system.
Cheung drew particular attention to the law’s extraterritoriality, in that any person regardless of residency or nationality could be charged for acts committed anywhere: “All eight billion people in the world should read the Hong Kong national security law thoroughly, to avoid unwittingly breaking the law.”
The Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) released a statement on Wednesday afternoon, highlighting the alleged inconsistencies between the national security law and the Basic Law.
In particular, the HKBA drew attention to the articles that allowed suspects to be extradited for trial in mainland China, the vesting of the power of interpretation in the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and the chief executive’s ability to select judges.
https://hongkongfp.com/2020/07/02/worse-than-the-worst-case-scenario-lawyers-dismayed-at-hong-kong-national-security-law/