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In response to media enquiries about the judgment handed down by the Court of First Instance of the High Court on a judicial review case concerning the current regime of interception of communications and covert surveillance today (February 9), a spokesman for the Security Bureau said the Government was studying the Court's judgment in detail.
In gist, the court has:
* dismissed the declaration sought that the Chief Executive (CE) has a legal obligation to appoint a day for the commencement of the Interception of Communications Ordinance;
* found that the Law Enforcement (Covert Surveillance Procedures) Order promulgated by CE in July, 2005, was lawfully made, but has no effect insofar as it purports to authorise or regulate covert surveillance conducted by law enforcement agencies; and
* declared that insofar as section 33 of Telecommunications Ordinance authorises or allows access to or disclosure of the contents of any message, it is unconstitutional.
The court recognises that any legal vacuum brought about by the declarations made would constitute a real threat to the rule of law in Hong Kong and has therefore ordered that they be suspended for six months.
"We have for some time been committed to introducing a new legislative regime to regulate interception of communications and covert surveillance," the spokesman said.
"We have already presented our legislative proposals to the Legislative Council. We explained them at the meeting of the Panel on Security on February 7. We will see whether it is necessary to expedite the legislative process in view of the judgment," he said.
Ends/Thursday, February 9, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:33
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