Set Up A Special Court For Riot Cases: Maria Tam

A deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, Maria Tam, said on Monday that Hong Kong should consider setting up a special court to deal with the thousands of people who have been arrested in connection with recent anti-government protests.

Speaking during an interview with the mainland's Xinhua News Agency, Tam said many countries set up special courts to tackle rioting-related offences and Hong Kong should do the same in order to speed up the judicial process.

However she did not offer any specific details as to the operation of such courts, or how exactly they would be "special".

Her suggestion attracted a sharp rebuke from legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok, who called it "scary". He said setting up a special court wouldn't speed things up, and would only prompt more problems.

"Judges and magistrates are appointed for a reason because they are of high quality and have independent judgement. So why do we need a special court? A special court will not speed up things and will only create more fear or concerns about who will sit on the special court and the procedures etc. It will actually cause even more delay," Kwok said.

"I have faith in the normal court system, we should simply stick to the system that we have and not create even more problems and procedural wrangle."

Meanwhile, Tam also dismissed claims that the SAR government's introduction of an anti-mask law was unconstitutional, saying the National People’s Congress Standing Committee has long affirmed the right of the Chief Executive-in-Council to invoke emergency powers when necessary.

When asked about a remark by Hong Kong's last governor, Chris Patten, that the mask ban was a "crazy" decision, Tam called Patten an "attention-seeking", "outdated" politician.

She also accused him of double-standards, saying Britain also has its own anti-mask law.