News: Lawmaker fears NPC review will kill rule of law

The
authority of Hong Kong’s Judiciary will be severely undermined should
the SAR government seek an interpretation from Beijing for its
controversial covert surveillance bill, a democratic lawmaker said
Thursday. Whole Article

Lawmaker fears NPC review will kill rule of law

The
authority of Hong Kong’s Judiciary will be severely undermined should
the SAR government seek an interpretation from Beijing for its
controversial covert surveillance bill, a democratic lawmaker said
Thursday.

Mimi Lau

Friday, March 17, 2006

The
authority of Hong Kong’s Judiciary will be severely undermined should
the SAR government seek an interpretation from Beijing for its
controversial covert surveillance bill, a democratic lawmaker said
Thursday.

"The [National People’s Congress Standing] committee’s
different values in reinterpreting the Basic Law are very dangerous,"
Democratic Party legislator Albert Ho said.

"There is a fear that
if there are too many arguments concerning the bill, the government may
request the NPC Standing Committee to reinterpret the law.

"Should this happen, Hong Kong’s rule of law will be destroyed once and for all," he added.

Ho’s
comments come just days before he leaves for New York to attend a
United Nations Human Rights Committee hearing together with Power for
Democracy convenor Richard Tsoi and Frontier firebrand legislator Emily
Lau.

The committee will examine how the SAR is implementing the
International Convention on Civil and Political Rights following its
1999 report. While Hong Kong’s nongovernmental organizations for civil
rights and free speech have urged the UNHRC to condemn the SAR at a
public hearing regarding violations of the convention, they are also
asking the committee to insist that officials provide a supplementary
report 18 months later.

"A second report is needed as by then
there will be the major developments involving RTHK [Radio Television
Hong Kong] and covert surveillance," Lau said.

The government
hopes to get the covert surveillance bill through the Legislative
Council by July and the report on the RTHK review is expected by
October.

Ho said: "It is unacceptable for the Hong Kong government to take the UNHRC view so lightly.

"The committee should strongly disapprove or denounce the Hong Kong government for failing to implement the convention."

Ho
insisted that the Basic Law interpretations on the right of abode
issue, the timetable for universal suffrage and the length of term of a
replacement chief executive had already weakened the authority of the
Judiciary.

"I am also extremely concerned whether RTHK will be
allowed to retain its editorial independence after the review has been
completed," Ho continued.

Ho said he and Lau will express their concerns at the hearings to be held  Monday and Tuesday.

They will also urge the UNHRC to pressure the government to comply with the convention and to protect Hong Kong’s rule of law.