[Interview] Liang Jiajie advocates the "Trilogy of Amnesty" to independently investigate and redefine the mass movement

Politics

Written by: Lin Jian

2020-01-17 07:00

Since the anti-revision storm erupted last year, it has not completely subsided. The big deadlock between the demonstrators, the government and the police is that more than 7,000 people have been arrested and more than a thousand people have been charged. The demonstrators refuse to stop and believe that the storm is caused by the government's mistakes and the police's excessive law enforcement. Stop investigating arrested persons. The government refused to appeal on the grounds of "damaging the rule of law", leaving no room for negotiation.

"Hong Kong 01" interviewed the chairman of the Citizen Party and senior barrister Liang Jiajie to talk about his views on amnesty. He believes that amnesty is indeed a political act and is not based on legal foundations, but is entirely within the framework of the rule of law and will not undermine it. He believes that the basic conditions are to conduct an independent investigation into the storm, and then re-politicize the mass movements, and then determine the exact amnesty boundary to pardon the lesser crimes. This will help calm the storm.

Except for serious injuries, amnesty may be considered

Among the "five major demands" proposed by the people, it is more controversial to stop investigating arrested persons, because some of the arrested and accused persons have indeed participated in more serious injuries, but there are also many Minor crimes or humanitarian assistance at the scene were also charged.

Liang Jiajie pointed out that amnesty is indeed a political act and is not based on legal principles, but is fully contained in the framework of the rule of law. He believes that on the basis of clarifying the facts, it is necessary to redefine the political characterization of this mass movement, and then choose the appropriate case for amnesty. The method can include stopping the prosecution and commuting the sentence. There are roughly three steps: The justices will report well, seriously consider re-characterizing the mass movements and then grant amnesty in appropriate cases. "

He admits that it is difficult to talk about amnesty in some cases: "A lot of people think that if you are really recognized and you do something that seriously hurts others, is it amnesty? Of course, you can commute the sentence at your discretion, such as at the time Provoked, so I feel that some people ca n’t completely amnesty. But now that Lin Zheng is silent, what she said when asked about amnesty endangered the rule of law, and how to do it? Everyone knows that amnesty has happened in Hong Kong. How could it endanger the rule of law? "

Liang Jiajie pointed out that the key to everything is an independent investigation. Finding out the truth and then considering amnesty will make everyone convinced: "You are seriously saying that there are reports now, except those that are credible and cause serious harm to human life. Yes, it's another matter. Most of the others can be amnesty. Is that politics? That's what political issues and political solutions mean. This (amnesty) is completely within the rule of law. "

Liang Jiajie advocated that except for severely violent acts, amnesty may be considered after independent investigation. (Photo / Photo by Liang Huanmin)

Promote devolution of prosecution powers to the Prosecutor

As for another problem highlighted in this turmoil, is the degree of criminal prosecution control. Article 63 of the Basic Law stipulates that the criminal prosecution is the responsibility of the Department of Justice, but the current prosecution decision has repeatedly been accused of political purposes. The Department of Justice's "Prosecution Code" states that prosecutions should be free from interference, but the core issue is that any system is executed by "people" and it is difficult to exclude human factors. The bigger problem is that the Secretary for Justice is a politically appointed official who is accountable to the chief executive and has conflicting roles. No matter how the officials explain it, it is difficult to win the trust of the public.

This contradiction has become even more acute during recent demonstrations. For example, in the 7.21 Yuen Long attack, there were hundreds of people in white attacking the citizens. There were also a lot of shots to clearly capture the attackers. But so far, only 37 people have been arrested and 7 people have been charged. Dissatisfied with the police so far, no investigations, no charges, launched a crowdfunding in hopes of private criminal prosecution of the police.

Liang Jiajie pointed out that in any area where common law is practiced, private criminal prosecution is a guaranteed right. However, in reality, due to the high conviction threshold in criminal cases, civilians do not have the power to investigate and collect evidence, and the Department of Justice can also intervene or terminate prosecutions at any time in law. Therefore, it is actually quite difficult to exercise the power of private criminal prosecution.

He suggested that the government promote reform as soon as possible, and devolve the power of criminal prosecution to non-political appointed criminal prosecutors, and handle it by public servants, which can reduce some of the disputes. However, he confessed that the government's credibility today will always lead to questions no matter how it is changed: "Now this government's credibility is so low, even Lin Zheng came out and told everyone that the sun is rising from the east, everyone would not believe it. It is useless to change it. Now in any case, it is necessary to restore the authority of the government, but the authority does not come from the disability of young men and women. It is to make Hong Kong people think that you (the government) exercise public power for Hong Kong people. We need to re-establish trust. That's why we need an independent investigative committee. "

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Liang Jiajie 01 Politics, Rule of Law, Fugitive Offender Regulations, Anti-Revision Demonstration, Independent Investigation Committee 01 Video News Madman