Officials justify 14-day detention under Article 23

No suspects will be "arbitrarily detained" under the Basic Law Article 23, as clear principles will be set out to extend the maximum detention time of national security suspects from 48 hours to 14 days, the Department of Justice said.

But the administration was asked not to be "too kind," as it only defines a suspect as having "absconded" six months after a warrant is issued.

On the fourth consecutive day of the Bills Committee meeting, a senior assistant solicitor general on human rights,Vernon Loh, said law enforcers have to explain to the court in order to extend a suspect's detention. "The law will stipulate that police have to explain why they cannot reasonably complete their investigation without the extension, and the reason why such extension is essential to detain the suspect in order to preserve evidence or interrogate the suspect," Loh explained.

"There are clear provisions as to the circumstances that the court can grant an extension of a suspect's detention, which we consider consistent with the requirements of human rights law and will not lead to relevant persons being arbitrarily detained," he added.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said the administration has taken reference from legislation in other jurisdictions, and not all of them have their courts involved in granting an extension for national security suspects.

"Hong Kong's legislation will get the court involved to ensure the extension of detention time is not single-handedly decided by the law enforcer," Lam said.

"Judges will examine all relevant information presented before them ... to make a decision while also respecting the suspect's human rights."

Lam added that the suspect might not be able to examine confidential information, but can ask their lawyers to do so on their behalf, so the draft bill has already "struck a balance between all elements."

Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said extending detention to 14 days will already be sufficient for law enforcers to decide whether to prosecute a suspect.

Former security minister, now New People's Party lawmaker Lai Tung-kwok, as well as Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong chairman Gary Chan Hak-kan said the administration is "too kind" to only define suspects as "absconded" six months after a warrant is issued, as many fugitives have bad-mouthed Hong Kong after leaving the SAR.

Election Committee sector lawmaker Peter Koon Ho-ming said: "I am a priest, but government officials seem to have even more mercy than me."

In response, Tang said: "If even the priest said so, I will consider it more seriously."

Most of the bills tabled at the Legislative Council meeting tomorrow will be withdrawn to make way for more Bills Committee meetings, on its fifth day today, a source said.

michael.shum@singtaonewscorp.com