Tightened prison rules restricting lawyers and religious leaders from visiting inmates will take effect on Friday, just two weeks after the authorities proposed the amendments.
The fast-tracked legislative amendments will allow the Correctional Services Department (CSD) to restrict or even ban a person from visiting an inmate on certain grounds, including safeguarding national security.
The proposal will be gazetted and passed directly into law on Friday under “negative vetting” procedures, allowing it to come into effect before being scrutinised by lawmakers on Wednesday next week.
The government proposes the amendments “to ensure that we can effectively prevent, suppress and impose punishment for acts and activities endangering national security,” said the Security Bureau in a statement on Wednesday.
“Amidst the present complicated geopolitical situation, national security risks still exist. It is necessary to amend the [Prison Rules] as soon as possible to prevent and resolve relevant risks in a timely manner, the earlier the better, for safeguarding national security effectively.”
New rules
The new rules would grant the CSD the power to refuse any visits that do not comply with statutory purposes, such as facilitating the rehabilitation of inmates and their reintegration into society.
The government also proposes restricting the visitation rights of religious leaders and lawyers if authorities see a need to protect national security. Existing rules allow a chaplain to visit a prisoner “at all reasonable times.”
The government also suggests that the CSD can apply for a warrant from a magistrate to bar an inmate from communicating with a legal representative, in person or in writing, as well as with anyone associated with the law firm concerned.
The proposal to restrict communications between inmates and lawyers appears to be a response to the convictions of pro-democracy activist Owen Chow and his lawyer, Phyllis Woo, who were found guilty last year of removing a complaint letter from prison without the CSD’s approval.
Woo is seeking to take her case to the city’s top appeals court, with a hearing still pending.
The amendments are also set to abolish existing provisions allowing people in detention awaiting trial to wear their own clothes and order meals from outside prison.
Other proposals include expanding prison officers’ powers to safeguard national security in areas such as regulating and screening letters coming in and out of prisons, handling books from outside, and imposing solitary confinement.
