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Government announces appointment of Panel Judge under Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance
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     The Government announced today (October 28) that the Chief Executive, on the recommendation of the Chief Justice, had appointed Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah as a Panel Judge under the Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance (Chapter 589) (the Ordinance).
 
     Under the Ordinance, the Chief Executive shall, on the recommendation of the Chief Justice, appoint three to six eligible judges as Panel Judges to consider applications for authorisations of interception and Type 1 surveillance and for device retrieval warrants. Under the Ordinance, "eligible judge" means a judge of the Court of First Instance.
 
     The Chief Executive has appointed Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah to succeed Mr Justice Anthony To Kwai-fung, who will retire from the Court of First Instance, as a Panel Judge under the Ordinance for a term of three years commencing November 4, 2016.
 
     Mr Justice Fung was called to the Bars in New South Wales, Australia and Hong Kong in 1985 and 1986 respectively. He was appointed Magistrate in 1993, District Judge in 1998 and Chief District Judge in 2001. He was appointed as Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2006.
 
     The Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, said, "Mr Justice Anthony To Kwai-fung has been serving as a Panel Judge under the Ordinance since 2012. I am grateful for his full dedication and firm commitment in handling the law enforcement agencies' applications for prescribed authorisations under the Ordinance during the past four years. I am confident that Mr Justice Barnabas Fung Wah, together with the other two incumbent Panel Judges, Mr Justice Andrew Chung On-tak and Mr Justice Mohan Tarachand Bharwaney, will continue to make use of their expertise and experience to ensure the effective operation of the regulatory regime under the Ordinance."
 
     The Ordinance provides a comprehensive statutory framework for regulating the conduct of interception and covert surveillance by designated law enforcement agencies and aims to strike a balance between protecting the rights of the community to law and order and the privacy rights of the individuals.
 
Ends/Friday, October 28, 2016
Issued at HKT 8:40
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