Friday, February 24, 2023

Michael Hor on The New National Security Law: Exploring a Meaningful Comparison with Singapore (new book chapter)

"The New National Security Law: Exploring a Meaningful Comparison with Singapore"
Michael Hor
in The National Security Law of Hong Kong: Restoration and Transformation,
Edited by Hualing Fu Michael Hor (Hong Kong University Press, July 2022),
Chapter 16, pp. 358-376
Introduction: This chapter compares the National Security Law in Hong Kong and the Internal Security Act in Singapore from the angle of their capacity to cause persons or entities dealing with or observing these jurisdictions to fear unacceptable abridgement of human rights and liberties.  A technical analysis of the letter of the law reveals a potentially far more authoritarian executive detention without trial in Singapore, compared with even the modified criminal law embodied in the National Security Law of Hong Kong.  Yet, the contrasting rights trajectory of Singapore and Hong Kong and the more ominous current political context of the National Security Law, more than makes up for the initial favourable comparison.  The chapter ends with a brief thought, gleaned from the Singapore experience, of how those who still care about human rights in Hong Kong should respond. 

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