Govt proposed higher penalties for national security offences involving external forces

A higher penalty should be applicable for the commission of certain offences endangering national security if collusion with external forces is involved, the SAR government proposed in a Legco document after taking into account the results of a public consultation over the Article 23 legislation.

According to the document, the government is considering adding clauses to four types of national security offenses, indicating that a higher penalty would be imposed should external forces be involved.

They include “offence of seditious intention”, “offense of misprision of treason”, “unlawful disclosure of classified information”, and “offence of sabotage endangering national security”.

Responding to concerns that the disclosure of state secrets in certain circumstances concerning significant public interest should constitute a defense, the government said it would consider introducing a relevant defence, yet it stressed that “public interest” must be highly significant, and such interest would outweigh the risk of national security.

The threshold is very high and this threshold may not be met in most cases, the document read.

Meanwhile, the government said some of the elements of the existing offences relating to “seditious intention” lack clarity, leading to legal disputes over the elements of the relevant offences during trials.

“We recommend clarifying or improving the elements of the offences based on past practical experience in the current legislative exercise. 

“One of the examples, for the offence of “seditious intention”, is whether proof of the intention of inciting public disorder or inciting violence is required,” it noted.

The government said past experiences show that the cumulative effect of leaving acts of inciting hatred against the Central Authorities or the SAR Government unchecked is that any large-scale riots once commenced will spiral out of control, which “these acts must be prohibited by law.”