National security classification mechanism endorsed

The Executive Council on Tuesday endorsed subsidiary legislation that gives the chief executive the power to issue a certificate for "other offences endangering national security under the law of the HKSAR". The Safeguarding National Security (Procedural Matters) Regulation was gazetted and came into effect immediately. The subsidiary legislation, enacted under section 110 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), lays out the classification mechanism for other offences endangering national security in order to reflect the legislative intent of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) and the SNSO, according to a government statement. "The making of the Procedural Matters Regulation aims to state clearly the classification mechanism under the HKNSL and the SNSO for 'other offences endangering national security under the law of the HKSAR', thereby refining details of relevant procedural matters and bringing greater certainty to the implementation of the relevant provisions under the HKNSL, the SNSO and other laws," the statement added. Under the mechanism, if the chief executive issues a certificate under the law confirming that a criminal act involves national security, the case shall be treated as one. And where a person is charged with – or convicted of – an alternative offence arising from the same act in a case involving a national security offence, that alternative offence shall also be classified as an offence endangering national security. Edited by Edmond Fong