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Hong Kong lawyers express concern over proposed law that can impose travel ban on anyone

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Feb 13, 2021, 11:04 AM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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Hong Kong city's government proposed amending a law in late January that will give rights to the director of immigration to impose a travel ban on any individual without seeking permission from the court. 

Hong Kong's lawyers have expressed concern over a government proposal which if approved could bar anyone from leaving the city. 

A paper has been submitted by the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) to the legislative council on Friday expressing alarm over the law that can prevent anyone, Hong Kong resident or not from leaving the region. 

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"It is particularly troubling that the grounds on which such an intrusive power may be exercised are not stated in the proposed legislation, and no explanation for why such a power is necessary, or even how it is intended to be used, is set out," the association said. 

Hong Kong city's government proposed amending a law in late January that will give rights to the director of immigration to impose a travel ban on any individual without seeking permission from the court. 
 
The bar association said if travel curbs need to be taken, the courts must decide it, and not the director when it is "proportionate" and "necessary". 

"If a new power to prevent Hong Kong residents and others from leaving the region is to be conferred... It should be for the courts, not the director, to decide when it is necessary and proportionate to impose a travel ban," the HKBA said. 

After the imposition of a new security law by China last June, several pro-democracy activists and leaders have gone into exile from the region as China continues its muscular approach.