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Following is a question by Dr Hon Chiang Lai-wan and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Lai Tung-kwok, in the Legislative Council today (March 18):
Question:
It has been reported that there have been successive demonstrations against parallel traders recently and on the same day of March 8 this year, several rounds of protests took place in Tuen Mun, Sheung Shui and Tsim Sha Tsui. Some protesters kicked the trolleys of passers-by resulting in physical confrontations; attempted to block the roads with mills barriers to make buses bound for an immigration control point unable to depart; dashed into the roads with an intent to disrupt public order; and charged into goldsmith shops, pharmacies and groceries hurling abuses at customers. Given the chaotic situation, some shops closed during the protests and their business was seriously affected. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether the persons or bodies organising the protests against parallel traders held in the past three months applied to the authorities for letters of no objection to public processions; if they did, of the respective numbers of cases in which letters of no objection were issued and denied by the authorities, together with a breakdown by applicant's name; whether the authorities will review the criteria for issuing letters of no objection; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(2) given the increasingly serious physical confrontations arising from the recent protests against parallel traders, whether the authorities have measures in place to better protect the personal safety and properties of shop operators, local residents as well as tourists; if they do, of the details; and
(3) of the specific enforcement actions put in place by the authorities to prevent the recurrence of such disruption of public order so as to uphold the reputation of Hong Kong as a safe city to visit?
Reply:
President,
Hong Kong residents enjoy the freedom of and the right to peaceful assembly, procession and demonstration under the Basic Law. It is an established policy of the Police to strike a balance between facilitating all lawful and peaceful public meetings and reducing the impact of such meetings on the community and road users, and to ensure public order and public safety. The Government has been urging participants of public order events to remain law-abiding, peaceful and orderly when expressing their views and refrain from behaviour that is detrimental to public order or violent.
Since February this year, some organisations staged so-called "anti-parallel trader" protests in various districts on many weekends. Some protesters humiliated and disturbed other people with foul language and abusive behaviour on streets, in shopping malls or inside shops. Worse still, some resorted to assaults. As a result, small children were frightened and passers-by injured. Some protesters even moved barriers to interfere with normal bus operation. Such behaviour seriously disrupted social order, abused the freedom of expression and went beyond the bottom line of the law. The Government and various sectors of the community strongly condemn protesters' irrational behaviour, blatant defiance of the law and violence.
In the recent spate of incidents, as at March 15, the Police arrested 69 persons for alleged disorder in public places, unlawful assembly, fighting in a public place and possession of offensive weapon etc. A total of 19 Police officers were also injured in the incidents. The Police will actively continue their investigation and comprehensively pursue those responsible in accordance with the law.
Our reply to Dr Hon Chiang Lai-wan's question is as follows:
(1) According to the Public Order Ordinance (the Ordinance), any public meeting or procession, the attendance of which exceeds the limit prescribed in the Ordinance, i.e. public meetings of more than 50 persons and public processions of more than 30 persons, shall give a notice to the Commissioner of Police (the Commissioner) not less than seven days prior to the intended event. In consideration of public order and public safety, the Commissioner may prohibit, object to or impose conditions on a notified public meeting or procession, and shall inform the organisers of his decision in writing. Any condition imposed shall be explicitly stated in the letter of no objection (LONO) to the organisers beforehand. A public meeting or procession may only be conducted if the Commissioner does not prohibit or object to it. Organisers may appeal to the statutory and independent Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions if they consider the Commissioner's decision unreasonable.
Under the statutory notification mechanism, the Police shall, on the basis of the principle above, deliberate on each notification of public meeting or procession received according to the law, and shall inform the organisers of their decision in writing. It is only upon receipt of a notification to hold a public order event shall the Police consider the issue of the LONO and the corresponding conditions, if any.
As far as the protests against parallel traders since February are concerned, the Police received notification of the public order event held in Tuen Mun on February 8 and in Yuen Long on March 1, and subsequently issued the respective LONOs, in which certain conditions on the arrangements for the events were set, including requiring the organisers to arrange sufficient marshals for providing assistance during the events by such means as urging participants to proceed in a safe manner and follow the instructions given by Police officers throughout for ensuring public safety and public order. The conditions set by the Police in connection with public order events have been uploaded to the Police website (www.police.gov.hk) for public viewing. Except the public order events on February 8 and March 1, the Police did not receive any prior notification for the protests against parallel traders staged recently in Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Tsim Sha Tsui. In response to these allegedly illegal activities, the Police will conduct investigations and collect evidence based on the actual circumstances. If there is sufficient evidence, the Police will carry out prosecutions in accordance with relevant ordinances.
In 2005, the Court of Final Appeal pointed out in the judgment of Leung Kwok Hung v HKSAR [2005] 3 HKLRD 164 that Hong Kong's statutory requirement for notification is widespread in jurisdictions around the world. It also affirmed that such a requirement is constitutional, and is required to enable the Police to fulfil their duties by taking reasonable and appropriate measures, thereby facilitating lawful assemblies and demonstrations to take place in a peaceful manner. The Police remind any person planning to organise public order events not to break the law. If the attendance of such events exceeds the limit prescribed in the Ordinance, they must follow the law and notify the Police as early as possible of the specific arrangements so that corresponding measures can be formulated and adopted, thus facilitating the conduct of the events, minimising their impact on other members of the community and ensuring public order and public safety.
(2) and (3) In handling public order events, the Police will conduct holistic risk assessment and consideration, taking into account the purpose, nature and attendance of such events as well as strategies used and experience gained in similar past events. By doing so, the Police will work out the overall strategies and contingency plans, and, having regard to the circumstances at the time, deploy manpower flexibly and implement crowd management measures for public safety and public order.
The Police are duty-bound, determined in and capable of curbing unlawful behaviour in accordance with the law in the realm of law enforcement. Never will the Police allow violence or blatant offence. To uphold the rule of law, the Police will take resolute enforcement actions against offenders by conducting arrests and bringing them to justice.
In the period ahead, the Police will keep in view of the situation and strengthen their deployment in various regions and preventive measures through flexible deployment of in-house manpower and resources. The Police do not tolerate any behaviour disrupting social order or going against the law. In parallel, the Police will also deploy sufficient manpower to each region to maintain Police's routine service in order to ensure public order and public safety.
Ends/Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:09
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