The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (October 13) that a sample of marinated pig oviduct was found to contain a pathogen, Salmonella. The CFS is following up on the case. … read more
The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted a series of territory-wide anti-illegal worker joint operations with the Hong Kong Police Force codenamed “Champion” and “Windsand” on October 10 and yesterday (October 12). A total of six suspected illegal workers, three suspected employers and four overstayers were arrested.
During operation “Champion”, enforcement officers raided 41 target locations in Sham Shui Po District, including garages, premises under renovation, residential buildings and retail shops. Three suspected illegal workers, three suspected employers and four overstayers were arrested. The arrested suspected illegal workers comprised one man and two women, aged 32 to 53. In addition, one woman was also suspected of using and being in possession of a forged Hong Kong identity card. Three male and one female overstayers, aged 39 to 47, were arrested. Three men, aged 27 to 57, were suspected of employing the illegal workers and were also arrested. Among them, two suspected illegal workers, three suspected employers and four overstayers were handled by the ImmD.
Furthermore, during operation “Windsand”, three male Mainland visitors, aged 28 to 50, were arrested for breaching their condition of stay by being involved in suspected illegal parallel trading activities at Ka Fu Close and areas around San Wan Road in Sheung Shui district. The goods were healthcare products and skincare products.
An ImmD spokesman said, “Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him or her shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties.”
The spokesman warned, “As stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land is prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment. Under the prevailing laws, it is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to 10 years’ imprisonment.”
The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. Under the Immigration Ordinance, the maximum penalty for an employer employing a person who is not lawfully employable, i.e. an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land, has been significantly increased from a fine of $350,000 and three years’ imprisonment to a fine of $500,000 and 10 years’ imprisonment to reflect the gravity of such offences. The director, manager, secretary, partner, etc, of the company concerned may also bear criminal liability. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.
According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee’s identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker’s valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $150,000 and to imprisonment for one year. In that connection, the spokesman would like to remind all employers not to defy the law by employing illegal workers. The ImmD will continue to take resolute enforcement action to combat such offences.
Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct an initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the ImmD officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter or temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments immediately.
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority: The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Alipay Financial Services (HK) Limited re… read more
Young persons in custody (PICs) at Sha Tsui Correctional Institution (STCI) of the Correctional Services Department (CSD) were presented with certificates at a ceremony today (October 13) in recognition of their efforts and achievements in studies and vocational examinations.
In the past year, 107 PICs sat for various academic and vocational examinations including the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, the City and Guilds International examinations, the Cambridge English Examinations and the General Aptitude Putonghua Shuiping Kaoshi, and obtained vocational certificates covering Food and Beverage Services, Coffee Making and Latte Art Training, Specialty Drink (Non-alcoholic) Making, Cantonese Cooking, Multimedia Design, Music, Building Services as well as Laundry Skill organised by the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong; the School of Professional and Continuing Education, the University of Hong Kong; Christian Action; the Construction Industry Council; Tom Lee Music Foundation and the Vocational Training Council. During the year, the PICs attained 134 merits out of 298 certificates obtained. In the ceremony today, 18 PICs were presented with 92 certificates, of which 41 merits were attained.
Officiating at the ceremony, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sik Sik Yuen (SSY), Mr Ma Chak-wa, said that SSY is fully supportive of the rehabilitation work of the CSD, and set up a subsidy scheme named the Sik Sik Yuen – Care and Rehabilitation Education Fund in March 2023, with the aim of supporting needy PICs to pursue continuing education and vocational training. He encouraged the young PICs to remain positive, broaden their vision, and rise to challenges.
During the ceremony, members of the lion dance team and the marching band performed a lion dance and played various pieces of music to show their gratitude to their families and correctional officers for their unwavering support in the course of rehabilitation. Moreover, PICs put their training into practice and produced a short video by using shooting and editing skills acquired in the Creative Multimedia Technology Training Course to record the learning progress and emotional journey of different PICs during their training in the institution, highlighting how they have found their direction during the learning process and strived to equip themselves to prepare themselves for reintegration into society.
In the sharing session, one of the PICs expressed his gratitude to the CSD for providing support for their rehabilitation. He shared that he grew up in a single-parent family and has been deeply moved by his mother’s determination to visit him despite being sick. He then realised his past mistakes and cherished his time to study hard. Another PIC’s mother shared the happiness of witnessing the positive changes of her son while undergoing training in STCI. She expressed her appreciation for the support provided by CSD staff which has enabled her to appreciate the significance of rehabilitation work.
Also attending the ceremony were representatives of non-governmental and community organisations, community leaders and family members of the certificate recipients.
STCI accommodates young male PICs aged from 14 to under 25. The Department provides half-day education programmes and half-day vocational training for PICs of training centres and rehabilitation centres to help them rehabilitate and prepare for their reintegration into society.
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, at the 6th “Belt and Road” Initiative International Forum and the “Belt and Road” Cooperation and Partnership Model Agreement Conference today (October 13):
Professor Wang (President of the International Academy of the Belt and Road, and President of Zhejiang University Academy of International Strategy and Law, Professor Wang Guiguo), dear judges, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. I wish to begin by expressing my gratitude to Professor Wang for inviting me to today’s conference.
I note that the theme of today’s conference is about Belt and Road Cooperation and Partnership Model Agreement. So I wish to start with the word “co-operation”. “Co-operation” is not only the key word of today’s discussion, and more importantly, it is one of most fundamental underlying principles behind that Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This is the 10th anniversary of the BRI. In the white paper published by the State Council of People’s Republic of China on October 10, 2023, a few days ago, it is stated that “In the 10 years that have passed since its launch, cooperation under the BRI framework has brought remarkable and profound change to the world and become a major milestone in the history of humanity.” While acknowledging that there will be new difficulties or challenges in future, the paper goes on to say “Cooperation will thrive, and the BRI can look forward to an even brighter future. China stands ready to work with other countries to pursue closer and more fruitful cooperation under the BRI framework”.
As an integral part of China, and under the principle of “one country, two systems”, Hong Kong will certainly continue to play a unique role in pursuing closer and more fruitful co-operation between China and other participants of the BRI. In particular, as is often said, Hong Kong serves as a “super-connecter” in various fields, including the provision of an ideal business environment governed by the rule of law.
I wish to perhaps highlight a few features, just to support what I have just said. First, vis-à-vis other countries and territories outside China, Hong Kong has always been an international trading and investment centre. To facilitate cross-border trade, Hong Kong has signed 22 Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements and eight Free Trade Agreements with other territories. These agreements include substantive protection to investments as well as provisions for a dispute settlement mechanism that allows investors and contracting parties to resolve disputes relating to investments within the framework of these international agreements.
On the other hand, vis-à-vis the Mainland, I remember that this morning our Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, mentioned the nine arrangements on mutual legal assistance made between the Mainland and Hong Kong. These arrangements, in particular the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters signed in January 2019 and the Interim Measures Arrangement (Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) signed in April 2019, are groundbreaking. They provide a wide range of procedural and enforcement assurances in litigation and arbitration processes, and permit parties to effectively safeguard their interests in cross-boundary civil and commercial cases.
Thirdly, we have maintained very close relationships with international legal organisations like the Hague Conference on Private International Law, which has played a very significant role in developing uniform rules for harmonious and peaceful international relations. The second example, the AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre was established in Hong Kong in 2021 to promote a wider application of alternative dispute resolutions among state parties in Asia and Africa. The most recent significant development must be the establishment of the International Organization for Mediation Preparatory Office in February this year, which aims at promoting mediation to resolve international disputes.
Regional and international legal co-operation must be complemented by world-class legal services which could keep pace with advances in the digital age. The Hong Kong Government fully supports the use of online dispute resolution and lawtech by global enterprises in resolving cross-border business-to-business disputes. Hong Kong opted into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which is APEC, APEC Collaborative Framework for Online Dispute Resolution of Cross-Border Business-to-Business Disputes (APEC ODR Framework) in April 2020. Our home-grown lawtech institution, eBRAM, which had already launched the APEC ODR procedural rules and its Online Mediation and Arbitration Platforms earlier this year, also just launched its Online Deal-making Platform in August.
With these international connections as well as connections with the Mainland, and also the strong presence of international legal organisations and dispute resolution mechanisms, Hong Kong is the natural forum for the provision of legal services relating to BRI, whether as a place to set up business vehicles or to resolve disputes. It is not only a natural but also ideal forum for these purposes due to the quality and credibility of legal services it can provide. Our legal professionals are not only familiar with international law and practices but also well versed with Chinese legal and business culture. Our judiciary remains independent and enjoys a high reputation around the world.
In order to meet the new challenges posed by the BRI, we certainly need more legal professionals who are not only qualified to practise the common law in Hong Kong but also familiar with the Mainland legal system, in particular, regarding civil and commercial matters. In this respect, we are grateful to the Central People’s Government’s support by extending the pilot scheme of the Greater Bay Area Legal Professional Examination for three years up to 2026. It enables more eligible Hong Kong legal practitioners to seize the opportunities brought about by the development of our country and expands the talent pool for serving the needs of the Belt and Road Initiative.
The prowess of our professional legal services has shaped Hong Kong into a leading international legal and dispute resolution services centre in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. In addition, it also puts Hong Kong in a very good position to provide capacity building for participants of the BRI. For example, we are working on developing Hong Kong into an international investment law and investor-state dispute resolution skills training base by building up a strong team of investment mediators in Asia. The first edition of the Hague Academy of International Law’s Advanced Course in Hong Kong, which focuses on the means and current practice of the settlement of international commercial and investment disputes, will be held in mid-December this year.
Ladies and gentlemen, Hong Kong, with all its unique strengths in the provision of legal services, has much to contribute to the BRI. I wish to take this opportunity to mention also the Hong Kong Legal Week 2023, which will take place next month from November 6 to 10 with the theme “Onward and Forward: Connecting the World”. This is the annual flagship event organised by the Department of Justice that accentuates Hong Kong’s role in regional co-operation and global connectivity as prominent speakers from Hong Kong and around the world gather to discuss on practical and forward-looking topics.
Returning to today’s event, the contribution of the Academy in bringing together excellent legal talent to set up and agree on the Belt and Road Cooperation and Partnership Model Agreement, I think in short is the “Model Rules”, is most laudable. I wish to thank the Academy again for organising the Forum today and I wish you all a very fruitful conference and a very enjoyable afternoon. Thank you very much.
