Government removes article on national security from PJ bill

The SAR government has removed an article concerning national security matters from the Law of the Judiciary Police (PJ), known as Law No. 5/2006.
On Friday, the First Standing Committee of the Legislative Assembly (AL) signed an opinion report concerning the bill.
The bill originally included an article suggesting that the division of national security affairs should have the ability to investigate crimes.
The committee members advised the government to remove the aforementioned article, considering it not an urgent matter to grant the head of the PJ division such power.
According to the bill, nine types of behaviors are considered to be an extreme violation of regulations, including drunk driving, connection with gangs for non-work-related reasons, and more.
Once a PJ officer is found guilty of any of the aforementioned behaviors, the individual will be subjected to mandatory retirement or dismissal.
The Chairman of the First Standing Committee, Ho Ion Sang, also reiterated that police officers should conduct themselves according to high standards, both on-duty and off-duty.
In the future, the judiciary police department will be entitled to the acquisition of documents related to other people’s civil and criminal identities. Police officers must inform the personal data protection authority when obtaining such information.
Since the government’s announcement of the law amendment, members of local society have been concerned about one article nicknamed the “secret police” provision.
This specific article proposes a list of PJ officers whose identity will not be made public.
Ho once again explained, on behalf of the government, that an individual’s identity will be kept confidential only when their employment is finalized. If a person is still in the process of applying and taking exams to enter the PJ, their identity will still be announced.
Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak also said that it is “absolutely unreasonable” to nickname the exemption of identity disclosure a “secret police” policy, because such an exemption has long been practiced in other regions including the U.K., the U.S and Hong Kong.
On January 20, the AL preliminarily passed the bill in general terms. In addition to Friday’s discussion, the AL committee had five meetings to talk about the bill. The bill is now ready for a vote and discussion in detail at a plenary meeting.
The bill proposes an expansion of approximately 25% in staff numbers over the next seven years, as well as formally including crimes related to information, internet or national security matters under the authority of the PJ.