Hong Kong urged to revive anti-stalking law
SCMP · 1 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong is facing renewed pressure to legislate against stalking after a 57-year-old government statistician was acquitted over following a 16-year-old girl to her school classroom and loitering outside it. The ruling, and the magistrate’s remarks that existing criminal laws were not suited to the conduct, have prompted lawmakers and a government adviser to call for a fresh push on anti-stalking legislation
Key Points
- The defendant, a 57-year-old government statistician, was found not guilty on August 25 over following the 16-year-old girl to school and loitering outside her classroom in July last year
- The man was also alleged to have followed the girl during her commute to school for two to three years, and told police she resembled an old friend
- Eastern Court Magistrate Kestrel Lam Tsz-hong said the loitering offence used in the case was inappropriate and that the conduct could not be handled under existing criminal laws
- Lam noted the Law Reform Commission had previously suggested anti-stalking legislation, a proposal first raised in 2000 but put on hold by the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau in 2014
- Executive Council member and barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah said the government should consider a new public consultation, adding he now saw no reason to oppose such legislation
Why It Matters
Hong Kong currently relies on a patchwork of offences to pursue repeated harassment, unlike many places with dedicated anti-stalking laws, and even doxxing provisions are seen as inadequate for cyberstalking cases. The acquittal is likely to intensify pressure on the government to revisit a proposal that has been dormant for more than a decade