Cases under the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO), which was unanimously passed by the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on March 19, are recorded to “adopt the common law tradition that allows courts wide discretion in determining the most appropriate penalty”, according to the 11th edition of Sentencing in Hong Kong, a biennial digest and compilation of verdicts that was officially released on Wednesday.
“The Ordinance, unlike the National Security Law for Hong Kong (NSL) itself, only prescribes maximum penalties,” said Grenville Cross, the book’s co-author and a former director of public prosecutions in the HKSAR.
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“One consequence of this is that, as with other crimes, the courts will be having regular recourse to the 11th edition of Sentencing in Hong Kong in construing the new law,” said Cross, who is also a senior counsel and renowned criminal justice analyst.
The book has been widely circulated in the SAR’s legal community as “an essential part of the efficient maintenance of the city’s criminal justice system”, according to Derek Chan Ching-lung, chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association
The book, published by LexisNexis, has been widely circulated in the SAR’s legal community as “an essential part of the efficient maintenance of the city’s criminal justice system”, according to Derek Chan Ching-lung, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association, who described himself as a “frequent and long-term user of the book series”.
Justice in sentencing is reflected in the context of ensuring that everyone in Hong Kong gets equivalent justice in the system, the chairman said.
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The trial and sentencing of national security offenses in Hong Kong have been controversial in the international sphere and have sparked heated discussions in the media worldwide since the promulgation of the NSL on June 30, 2020 and subsequent promulgation of the SNSO on March 30, 2024.
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal delivered its landmark judgment on the sentencing provisions of the NSL in 2023. A chapter of the book is dedicated to the NSL, which analyzes the impact of mitigating factors, explains the status of sentencing bands containing minimum penalties, and indicates which aids to interpretation can be relied upon. It also includes a brief introduction to its sentencing provisions, which will enable the legal sector to make assessments after the jurisprudence has been generated in the coming years.
The book series is a marathon undertaking, spanning 30 years of tireless efforts of the co-authors — Cross, a British senior counsel who has lived in Hong Kong for nearly half a century, and barrister Patrick W. S. Cheung, former head of the Vulnerable Witness Team and former chairman of the Standing Committee on Disclosure
“We expect future editions of the book to have more references to NSL cases,” said Careen Wong Hau-yan, vice-president of the Law Society of Hong Kong, who started referencing the book when she was a law school student.
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The book series is a marathon undertaking, spanning 30 years of tireless efforts of the co-authors — Cross, a British senior counsel who has lived in Hong Kong for nearly half a century, and barrister Patrick W. S. Cheung, former head of the Vulnerable Witness Team and former chairman of the Standing Committee on Disclosure. Described by the Hong Kong Law Journal as “a classic in Hong Kong’s legal literature”, the series is now a “must-have” kept within arm’s reach of the offices of lawyers and judges working in Hong Kong’s criminal courts. The national security legislation makes the series a “must-read” for future trials of national security cases.
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“Its impact extends beyond the courtroom, influencing legal education, policy discussions and public discourse on sentencing,” said Michael Sit, managing director of LexisNexis, a publisher that also compiles the sentencing of major jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Singapore, and China.
