Author Archives: hksar gov

     The Correctional Services Department (CSD) strongly disapproved of and condemned Mr Chan Man-mun for his article entitled “Retrospective Effect” published in Ming Pao yesterday (July 24), in which unfounded and misleading remarks were made about the arrangements for the serving of sentences of persons in custody (PICs) convicted of offences endangering national security.
      
     The grant of early release has never been a guaranteed right of PICs under the laws of Hong Kong; PICs should in principle serve the full sentence imposed by the court before they can be released. The mechanism of granting of remission or early release of PICs under the legislation is established to encourage good conduct and industry of PICs. Any discretion by the Commissioner of Correctional Services to grant early release of PICs or any referral of a PIC’s case to the relevant board for consideration of the early release of the PIC must be exercised or handled in accordance with the provisions of the relevant laws, such as the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Ordinance, the Post-Release Supervision of Prisoners Ordinance and the Prison Rules.
      
     As regards PICs serving their sentences in respect of their convictions of offences endangering national security, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance amended the aforementioned ordinances, such that if a PIC is serving a sentence for a conviction of an offence endangering national security, the PIC must not be granted remission or his case must not be referred to the relevant board for consideration of early release or sentence review, unless the Commissioner is satisfied that the grant of remission or the early release of the PIC will not be contrary to the interests of national security.
      
     The CSD has the responsibility to effectively prevent acts and activities endangering national security in accordance with the law. Under the new provisions, the Commissioner must first consider whether the grant of remission or the early release of PICs convicted of offences endangering national security will not be contrary to the interests of national security. The relevant provisions are applicable to all PICs serving sentences in respect of their convictions of offences endangering national security, irrespectively of whether they were sentenced before, on or after the commencement of the relevant amendments. The new provisions are not punitive measures; they do not increase the length of sentences imposed by the court, nor do they affect those who have already been released early. Therefore, the new provisions definitely do not engage the provisions under Article 12 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights against retrospective criminal offences or penalties.
      
     The two so-called “controversial” points mentioned in the article published by Ming Pao are factually inaccurate. First, section 7 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance provides for a clear definition of “offence endangering national security”. Therefore, there is no such case as alleged in the article that “the Commissioner decides on his own to expand the scope of offences endangering national security”. Further, the principles established under the case law are that the court must not, when sentencing a defendant, consider whether the defendant will be granted remission or early release in accordance with the law.
      
     Through these false remarks, the article misled readers to believe that if a PIC is not granted remission or early release in accordance with the law, it would be tantamount to receiving a heavier sentence and a breach of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights. The CSD strongly disapproved of and condemned the remarks. The Commissioner will, as always, carry out his relevant duties in strict accordance with the laws and deal with every case fairly and impartially. read more

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on July 24 to noon today (July 25), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 250 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 50 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 70 934 samples of food imported from Japan (including 45 528 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 16 694 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more

     Marine Department representitives today (July 25) attended the ceremony held by the Hongkong Salvage & Towage Services Limited to celebrate the commissioning of the first two locally licensed LNG (liquefied natural gas) diesel dual-fuel tugs in Hong Kong.
 
     Addressing the celebration ceremony, Deputy Director of Marine Mr Shi Qiang said, “The Government is committed to transforming the city into a green port and promoting the use of more environmentally friendly new fuels with less or zero-carbon emissions to replace marine petroleum fuels commonly used by vessels nowadays. The commissioning of the first two locally licensed tugs equipped with dual-fuel engine systems marks a new milestone that helps encourage more local vessels to use new fuels and move towards the International Maritime Organization’s target of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by or around 2050. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the industry to jointly promote and achieve the goal of green and sustainable development in the shipping industry.”
 
     With a view to supporting the development needs and enhancing the long-term competitiveness of the marine industry, the Government promulgated the Action Plan on Maritime and Port Development Strategy in December 2023, outlining four directions and 10 strategies, including propelling the development of a green port towards a zero-carbon target by studying the feasibility of the provision of green fuel bunkering for local vessels and ocean-going vessels, and promulgating an action plan for Hong Kong’s development into a green maritime fuel-bunkering centre this year. The plan is expected to be published this year. The Government has also introduced the Shipping Legislation (Use of Fuels and Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2024 into the Legislative Council this month to cater for the safe use of new fuels such as LNG by vessels.
 
     Each of the two newly commissioned tugs, LNG Sentinel I and LNG Sentinel II, has an overall length of 42 metres, a beam of 16m, a gross tonnage of 1 275, two electric motor-driven azimuth thrusters with an aggregate power of 6 000 kilowatts and a maximum speed of 14 knots.

    

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible:      Here is an item of interest to swimmers.      The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced toda… read more

     The Labour Department (LD) is investigating a fatal work accident that happened in Kwai Chung this morning (July 25), in which a man died.             The LD immedia… read more