After being sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for national security offences on February 9, Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai Chee-ying will decide if he wishes to appeal. He may challenge his convictions and/or sentences and has about two weeks to make up his mind. Given the length of his trial (156 days), the mountain of…
A Hong Kong court has dismissed all appeals by 12 opposition activists to overturn their convictions or reduce their sentences in the city’s largest national security case, upholding that an unofficial 2020 primary election was subversive and that the seven-year starting point for jail terms was not “manifestly excessive”. The Court of Appeal on Monday…
Hong Kong’s Court of Appeal on Monday dismissed the appeal by 12 opposition activists seeking to overturn their convictions or have their sentences reduced, following the city’s largest national security trial to date. The appellate court also upheld the acquittal of one of 47 defendants prosecuted in the high-profile case of conspiracy to subvert state…
The acquisition price for properties damaged in Hong Kong’s deadly Tai Po fire will be “far lower” if homeowners reject the government’s buy-back offer and authorities are forced to use legislation to acquire the remaining properties, a senior official has said. Deputy Financial Secretary Michael Wong Wai-lun on Sunday dismissed claims that the government was…
When Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Xia Baolong recently described Hong Kong’s executive-led system as a distinct governance model, he elevated it from an administrative arrangement to constitutional doctrine. A doctrine is not merely about structure. It is about how governance power is exercised. In Hong Kong’s executive-led system, that exercise begins with…
Simon Leung has been without a full-time job since his contract ended in March 2024, after the Hong Kong government cut its budget for NGOs by 7 per cent. The social work event coordinator, who is in his late forties, now makes ends meet through gig jobs. With word spreading that the city’s coming budget…
Hong Kong authorities have launched an unprecedented open recruitment exercise for director roles spearheading information services and environmental hygiene, with “strong political acumen” being a common requirement. The government posted the two job advertisements on its website on Wednesday to publicly recruit the directors for the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Information Services…
To err is human. But when an error funnels through a system that has safeguards, the error is supposed to be caught and rectified. Checks and balances are written into the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s mini constitution. Hong Kong has an executive-led system, which means it is the executive branch’s job to formulate and implement…
Hong Kong’s U-turn on its seat belt rule for buses is a sobering reminder to lawmakers that they must meet higher standards even under the “executive-led” governance model recently underlined by Beijing, according to several policy experts. They noted that some lawmakers had been complacent, prioritising speed over efficacy in policymaking in a “patriots-only” legislature…
Teachers in Hong Kong will be given a year to fulfil a proposed government requirement to obtain a practising certificate, in light of the large number of applications expected in the first 12 months of its implementation, the education minister has said. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin on Friday also warned schools not to…