Statement of the Council of the Hong Kong Bar Association On
The Public Order Ordinance and the Prosecution of Student Demonstrators

1. The Bar welcomes the decision of the Secretary for Justice not to prosecute the university students for the demonstration held on 20 April 2000.

2. An important aspect of the Rule of Law is the concept that all laws should be applied objectively, consistently and fairly. In particular, laws should never be applied selectively depending on personal relationships or circumstances. Another important aspect of the Rule of Law is that the exercise of the power of arrest and the power to take out criminal prosecution should not be influenced or affected by political considerations.

3. We note with concern that notwithstanding many public meetings and public demonstrations which were held in the past without complying with the current law, some university students were apparently singled out for intended prosecution. We are also disturbed by the timing and the manner of the arrest of the university students which understandably gives rise to the impression that there was an attempt to maximize political pressure on the students. There is no reason why the students could not be served with a summons in the normal way as police has done in the past.

4. We believe that there are serious issues as to whether the current law governing public meetings and public demonstrations complies with the right to peaceful assembly and the right to freedom of expression under Article 27 of the Basic Law and Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which are incorporated into our law through Article 39 of the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights Ordinance. In particular, the length of time for prior notification for holding public meetings and public demonstrations, the wide power of the police to prohibit public meetings and to object to the holding of public demonstrations without clear delineation, and the criminalisation of a peaceful public meeting and public demonstration simply because of the absence of police’s permission are worrying features.

5. We strongly urge the Government to conduct a review of the current law on public meetings and public demonstrations as soon as possible.

Dated this 9^th day of October 2000.

Hong Kong Bar Association