Hong Kong Court Upholds Prisoner’s Denial of Remission Under National Security Law

Hong Kong's court affirmed the denial of sentence remission to inmate Ma Chun Man, citing national security laws and the importance of rehabilitation.

On Friday, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance upheld the correctional authorities’ decision to deny remission to a prisoner facing national security charges.

This marks a significant milestone as it is the first judicial review related to the recently enacted Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), which the local legislature introduced in March of this year.

Legal Arguments and Court Findings

The inmate, Ma Chun Man, contended that the new SNSO provisions fell short of the “prescribed by law” standard.

He claimed these regulations amounted to arbitrary detention, infringing upon Articles 5 and 6 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance and Article 28 of the Basic Law.

However, the court rejected his arguments, emphasizing that requiring Ma to serve the entirety of his sentence would aid in his potential reform and rehabilitation.

Furthermore, the court clarified that these provisions do not lengthen the sentences of those convicted nor do they obstruct the commissioner of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) from performing annual reviews of his decisions.

Judge Alex Lee noted the definition of national security within Hong Kong law and compared it to interpretations seen in the Kennedy v. United Kingdom case, affirming that the former is equally defined and has withstand scrutiny from the European Court of Human Rights.

Procedural Fairness Considerations

In addressing Ma’s assertions of procedural unfairness regarding the denial of his remission request, Judge Lee found that the commissioner had provided Ma a fair chance to present his case.

He pointed out that Ma’s expectations, grounded in the CSD’s typical practices, were unfounded; granting remission was against the law after the commissioner concluded that Ma did not meet the necessary national security criteria.

Consequences and Legal Framework

As a result of this ruling, Ma must serve the remainder of his sentence.

He was initially charged with incitement to secession under the National Security Law instituted in 2020.

Although an appellate court later reduced his sentence to five years, Ma had been hopeful for an early release on March 25 due to the CSD’s usual practice of granting up to one-third remission for good behavior as per Rule 69 of the Prison Rules.

Unfortunately for him, SNSO provisions stipulated conditions that prevented the CSD commissioner from granting relief unless it was clear that such an action would not compromise national security, as indicated in Sections 152 and 163 of the SNSO.

Consequently, the commissioner turned down Ma’s remission request, prompting him to challenge both the ruling and the underlying legal framework.

Source: Jurist