Can the Independent Review Committee treat both the symptoms and the symptoms?

weekly

Written by: Chen Zhiyong

2019-12-16 18:00

The anti-revision storm campaign lasted for six months. The public became increasingly divided and the society was suffering five injuries and seven injuries. Chief Executive Lin Zheng Yue'e said at the end of last month that he was referring to the 2011 riots in London and setting up an "independent review committee" to examine the causes of the movement and find out the social, economic and political issues. However, the riots in London lasted for less than ten days. Unlike the biggest social turmoil that Hong Kong has been experiencing for decades, the government can of course refer to the methods of controlling riots in other regions, but it ca n’t do the cooking when it is implemented. How can the committee take the right measures, calm the people's grievances, and lead the society out of its predicament?

For many months, different forces in the field have almost unanimously asked the government to set up an independent investigative committee to respond to public concerns about police-civilian conflict. (Profile picture / Photo by Lu Yiming)

As early as August of this year, Leung Mei Fen, a member of the Legislative Council of the People's Democratic Alliance, advocated that the government should take into account the British experience and set up a committee to examine the causes of social unrest. After Lam Cheng-shan came up late to become an independent review committee, Leung Mei-fen blame the government's biggest problem is "dragging tricks." She compared that the British government set up a commission to investigate five days after the riots, and the Hong Kong government would only say that "it will start as soon as the situation returns to a stable level", which is undoubtedly "caught a deer horn."

Liang Meifen pointed out that if the entire movement is to be reviewed, the causes can be divided into far and near causes. Far causes are deep-rooted contradictions in the society. This aspect requires experts and scholars to take time to study in depth. Oppositions and the conflict between police and civilians have not been dealt with in a timely and effective manner, leading to a continuous escalation of social movements.

The latter is currently the most concerned issue in society. For many months, different forces in the field have almost unanimously asked the government to set up an independent investigative committee to respond to public concerns about police-civilian conflict. Many commentators warn that if the government does not respond directly to this request, it will not be able to truly resolve public grievances, and the Independent Review Committee is not an effective channel for direct response.

A member of the Legislative Council of the People's Democratic Alliance, Liang Meifen, believes that the committee should achieve a "review" and "investigation". (Profile picture / Photo by Huang Shuhui)

What the committee should review

Liang Meifen originally proposed to follow the British government directly and set up a "riot, community and victim committee", but now she also agrees that if the committee lacks an "investigation" component, it will be difficult to convince the public. She suggested that the committee should be renamed as the "Independent Riot Investigation and Review Committee". The investigation and review should be carried out simultaneously, because the investigation part will inevitably be encountered during the review process. She believes that the review can refer to the British riots in 2011. At that time, the situation was also vendettas, the government ’s credibility was low, the demonstrators were mostly young, and the local police and police agencies ’credibility was low. The commission should explore the causes of the campaign from a macro perspective, and the government can refer to the aftermath and recommendations of the British Commission to provide compensation and conditional amnesties to arrested protesters. As for the investigation, she believes that apart from the "7.12" Yuen Long attack and "8.31" MTR Prince Edward Station incident that are the most concerned, all other controversial events need to be investigated, and the investigation must be fair and not just Investigate problems with police enforcement.

Pan Xuezhi, the co-convener of the Democratic Thoughts, believes that the scope of the review should not be too large, otherwise it will only take time and crash, and it should be reviewed on several core issues. He suggested that the Commission should review the use of force by the police in a number of police-civilian conflicts. For example, the incident at the Prince Edward Station on August 31 involved police use of force in a closed space, which is worthy of review. He also believes that many citizens feel that the government has not understood public opinion for the past six months, which indicates that the government consultation system may already have problems. He quoted the on-site investigation report of the "Anti-Fugitives Ordinance Amendment Demonstration" issued by the Chinese University of Hong Kong's CUHK Communication and Opinion Survey Center, stating that most of the demonstrators were young people. Categories, the government should review the mentality and motivations of different young people participating in the movement. In addition, he also pointed out that this campaign is full of a lot of false information, which seriously affects citizens' judgment. This issue also needs to be reviewed. Many countries have already legislated to supervise the dissemination of unverified information, and offenders must be held liable.

Most citizens hope to investigate the truth about the incident at Prince Edward 831. (Profile picture / Photo by Zeng Ziyang)

Obviously, no matter what the scope of the Commission's final review, police-civilian conflict is an important link it cannot avoid. Numerous police-civilian clashes have occurred in the past few months, and the standards of police conduct and law enforcement have been controversial. The government has always advocated that the issue be reviewed by the IPCC, but the structure and powers of the IPCC have serious flaws and have failed to convince society. Democratic Party Legislative Councillor Huang Biyun pointed out that what citizens really need is to find out the truth, and she doubts that if the truth is not found out, they will not be able to answer the public's questions and how to review the word. She also pointed out that the government has been reluctant to set up an independent investigative committee in accordance with the "Investigation Commission Regulations". It has evaded the investigation of police brutal force, and even tried to transfer public dissatisfaction with the police force to welfare policies, housing and land issues. Taking the incident of lead-water excess in public housing that she handled in 2015 as an example, she conducted an in-depth investigation of a specific area that year, which could also achieve a review effect. However, if the direction of the investigation is not accurate enough, subsequent follow-up reviews will not be able to calm public anger.

Limitations of the Review Committee

To be fair, the government finally decided to prepare an independent review committee, which responded to a certain extent the concerns of the community about the independent investigation committee. To make the committee effective, the key element is to "use the right people" and the second is to give it corresponding powers. . As far as the second point is concerned, the current dispute in society is whether the commission should be established under Chapter 86 of the Laws of Hong Kong, that is, the Commission of Inquiry Ordinance, to obtain substantive powers such as calling witnesses for testimony and issuing search warrants.

On this issue, Liang Meifen believed that the commission should be given the right of summons based on the scope of investigations established, but the scope of the summons should be fair and just, not just unilaterally targeting the police force. She reminded the chairman and members of the committee to know clearly that the committee was investigating the incident and not affecting the court. She added that it is precisely because the IPCC does not have the right to summon, that it is necessary to set up a committee when the IPCC investigation is unsuccessful, and giving more power is helpful to the enthusiasm of the investigation. An improved version of the review committee may satisfy society's Independent Inquiry Committee. "

A review committee with investigative power may meet some of the public's expectations for an "independent investigative committee." (Photo / Photo by Yu Junliang)

Huang Biyun questioned that if the idea of ​​an investigation committee was injected into the committee under the name of a review committee, it would be better to set up an independent investigation committee in accordance with the law. She pointed out that if a review committee without the right to summon, investigate, and request information did not focus on investigating police decisions, it would eventually evolve into a discussion of housing and land issues, which would be the same as non-targeted, or even an excuse for the government to evade and delay. For example, she said that an independent investigation committee had been set up in incidents such as the Lamma shipwreck and excessive lead water in public housing. Most of the members were judges and legal professionals. They summoned relevant witnesses and agency representatives to attend court and requested relevant information to investigate the incident. Witnesses The confession before the committee will not be a testimony for future criminal or civil prosecutions.

Huang Biyun emphasized that the review committee must have a legal basis. If it is not established in accordance with the existing legislation and it is required to grant its statutory investigative power and summons right, it will need to re-enact the law. The process of establishing new legislation cannot be completed in a short period of time. Law drafting, second reading, third reading, and bills committee deliberation take a long time, so only the "Investigation Commission Ordinance" is the best policy.

Democratic Party Legislative Councillor Huang Biyun pointed out that the government should focus on the issue and use the existing "Investigation Commission Regulations" to set up an independent investigation committee is the best policy. (Profile picture / Photo by Lin Ruoqin)

Pan Xuezhi pointed out that the past independent review committees did not have the right to investigate actively. For example, the independent review committee for franchised bus services on the Tai Po Highway accident could only passively hold hearings to allow citizens to make oral statements, submit documents, and even submit to investigations conducted by non-governmental organizations. The report, in disguise, requires cooperation from multiple parties and relies on civil society organizations to initiate investigations. He confessed that he did not have much expectation of investigative power, and reminded that the importance of investigative power is not only to obtain evidence from the police. Even the medical report of the Hospital Authority must have investigative power to view it. If the government just wants to establish an authority without investigative power, The review committee, to a certain extent, the public hearing can also allow citizens to express their opinions.

Pan Xuezhi continued to point out that this campaign has lasted for half a year and is a large-scale event that has not been seen before. Looking back at the cases investigated by the previous committee, even if it is not a large-scale event, it needs to be investigated for half a year to one year. According to this logic, when will this investigation end? Can be described as remote. He suggested that the committee could publish the interim report at different stages, or subdivide different investigation teams, and each group would then invite overseas experts to join in and issue investigation results on different issues such as police-civilian conflicts, consultation systems, and deep-seated contradictions.

Pan Xuezhi, co-convenor of the Democratic Thoughts, frankly stated that he did not have much expectations of the right to investigate, but the Commission could do something about it. (Profile picture / Respondent's mention)

Committee candidates and composition recommendations

After the government announced the establishment of a review committee, there was news that the government wanted to find a judge to chair. The high social credibility of judges will make it easier for citizens to accept the impartiality of the Commission. However, the government's low popularity has become a major obstacle to its ability to seek talent. Luo Zhiguang, director of the Labor and Welfare Committee of a preparatory committee, admitted in an interview with the media on Sunday (December 15) that "(finding people) is often difficult to help the government, and now it is more difficult now." Some people have refused to join the committee, but others are willing that the government will announce the candidates at an appropriate time.

Labour and Welfare Director Luo Zhiguang admitted in an interview with the media earlier that "(finding someone) is often difficult to help the government. Now it is more difficult at this time." (Profile picture / Photo by Luo Junhao)

Liang Meifen bluntly stated that even today, the Court of Final Appeal has been set on fire. People from all walks of life are worried, and it is not difficult to understand that they may not be willing to be involved. She pointed out that because the committee decided that the summons had a chance to affect the operation of the court, the members must be experienced persons. She believed that Liang Dingbang, chairman of the IPCC, who was a senior barrister, was fair and a good candidate.

Pan Xuezhi said that the appointment of a retired judge as the chairman of the committee can be described as a social consensus. Given that the committee's work takes a long time, retired judges have relatively time to deal with. Lawyers, former police officers, and members of the regulatory body are also considered. They can be involved in related macro police issues or human rights issues.

In addition, Pan Xuezhi pointed out that local scholars will be more familiar with government operations and can also recruit them. At the same time, overseas experts can be invited to provide reference opinions. He added that the Independent Review Committee may only be the first step. Just as the public is dissatisfied with the IPCC, the government needs to set up a new committee and empower it to investigate; Survey organization.

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The above was published in the 193rd issue of "Hong Kong 01" weekly report (December 16, 2019) "Can the Independent Review Committee treat both the symptoms and the symptoms".

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