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"The United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Ordinance (Cap. 575) (the Ordinance) and the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) (Amendment) Ordinance 2004 (the Amendment Ordinance) will come into full operation on January 1, 2011," a spokesperson for the Security Bureau said today (December 24).
"The Security Bureau enacted the Ordinance and the Amendment Ordinance in 2002 and 2004 respectively. To bring the Ordinance and the Amendment Ordinance into full operation will help Hong Kong fulfil its international obligations to combat terrorist financing and acts of terrorism under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, the Special Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering and the relevant Conventions," the spokesperson said.
"The provisions that will commence operation on January 1, 2011, mainly cover the requirements for specification of a person as a terrorist or terrorist associate, specification of a property as terrorist property, freezing or forfeiture of terrorist property, seizure and detention of terrorist property, request for an order or a warrant from the Court for the purpose of an investigation into a terrorist-related offence, and so forth.
"Furthermore, the provisions also ensure that the affected persons may make application to the Court for revocation or variation of the order, or even request the Court to order compensation. The Administration will maintain communication with the financial and other related sectors on the full commencement of the Ordinance and Amendment Ordinance," the spokesperson added.
The Security Bureau commenced the operation of certain provisions of the Ordinance and the Amendment Ordinance in 2002 and 2004 respectively. The other provisions of the Ordinance and the Amendment Ordinance which remain uncommenced (the uncommenced provisions) can only take effect after the relevant court rules and code of practice have been made. The court rules and code of practice were passed by the Legislative Council in December 2009 and July 2010 respectively. Accordingly, the Security Bureau published two Commencement Notices in the Gazette on October 15, 2010, to appoint January 1, 2011, as the commencement date for the above-mentioned uncommenced provisions.
The provisions of the Ordinance are set out at Ordinance No. 27 of 2002
(www.legco.gov.hk/yr01-02/english/ord/ord027-02-e.pdf) while the provisions of the Amendment Ordinance are set out at Ordinance No. 21 of 2004
(www.legco.gov.hk/yr03-04/english/ord/ord021-04-e.pdf).
Ends/Friday, December 24, 2010
Issued at HKT 17:02
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