Issue
- How have sedition and collusion allegations affected media work?
- What pressures have civil society groups reported?
- How do state-secrets provisions affect legal and research work?
Research Topics
Media, Civil Society, Lawyers, and NGOs
Groups cases and reports about media organizations, civil society closures, legal profession risks, and public-interest advocacy.
Related topics
15 records
Operating Principles and Guidelines for Interception and Covert Surveillance
G.N. (E.) 74 of 2020
Guidance issued under Schedule 6 of the Article 43 Implementation Rules, including authorization procedures, proportionality, legal professional privilege, journalistic material, emergency authorization, and oversight obligations.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- HKSAR Government
surveillanceinterceptionlegal professional privilegejournalistic material
Lai Chee Ying v Commissioner of Police
HCMP 1218/2020; HCAL 738/2022; [2022] HKCFI 2688
A key case for examining how investigative powers interact with media freedom, privilege, and digital device searches.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- Court of First Instance
journalistic materialsearchprivilegeApple Daily
HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying
HCCC 51/2022; [2023] HKCFI 1440
A major pre-trial ruling on designated judges, public statements, overseas counsel, and alleged abuse of process.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- Court of First Instance
fair trialdesignated judgesoverseas counselstay
Chow Hang Tung v Secretary for Justice
HCAL 401/2022
A procedural case useful for research on transparency, reporting restrictions, and open justice in national security proceedings.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- Court of First Instance
open justicereporting restrictionsChow Hang Tung
HKSAR v Lai Man Ling and Others
DCCC 854/2021; [2022] HKDC 981; [2022] 4 HKLRD 657
Speech-therapists' picture-book case addressing sedition elements, knowledge and intent, constitutional arguments, and continuing conspiracy.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- District Court
seditionpublicationschildren's booksCrimes Ordinance
HKSAR v Best Pencil (Hong Kong) Limited, Chung Pui-kuen and Lam Shiu-tung
DCCC 265/2022; [2024] HKDC 1430
Leading media-sector sedition judgment addressing publication intent, press duties, and how national security limits are applied to journalism.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- District Court
Stand Newsseditionpress freedommedia
HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying and Apple Daily Companies
HCCC 51/2022; [2025] HKCFI 6291
Major collusion and sedition verdict involving Apple Daily, foreign-sanctions allegations, and the relationship between press activity and national security offences.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- Court of First Instance
Jimmy LaiApple Dailycollusionseditionpress
Anatomy of a Crackdown: The Hong Kong National Security Law and Restrictions on Civil Society
Georgetown Center for Asian Law, March 2024
Report based on interviews and documentary review addressing closures of NGOs and media outlets, legal pressure, funding pressure, and other extra-legal tools.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- Georgetown Center for Asian Law
civil societymediaNGOsclosure
Hong Kong: New Security Law Full-Scale Assault on Rights
Human Rights Watch, 19 March 2024
Human Rights Watch critique of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, focusing on speech, civil society, police powers, due process, and extraterritorial reach.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong / International
- Body
- Human Rights Watch
Article 23rightsextraterritorialitycivil society
Hong Kong's National Security Law, Article 23 Legislation and Human Rights Defence
SOAS China Institute and Georgetown Center for Asian Law workshop report, March 2024
Workshop report summarizing discussions among scholars, legal practitioners, journalists, human-rights defenders, and NGOs on the Article 23 consultation and broader NSL environment.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong / International
- Body
- SOAS China Institute / Georgetown Center for Asian Law
Article 23workshop reporthuman rights defencecivil society
The National Security Law for Hong Kong: Impacts on Civic Space and Civil Society Engagement with the UN
International Service for Human Rights, September 2022
NGO report on how the NSL affects Hong Kong civil society, human-rights advocacy, and engagement with UN mechanisms.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong / International
- Body
- International Service for Human Rights
civil societyUN engagementhuman rights defenderscivic space
Country Policy and Information Note: Hong Kong National Security Legislation, China
UK Visas and Immigration, Version 4.0, April 2025; updated 30 January 2026
Government country-information note for protection decision-makers, summarizing NSL and SNSO offences, enforcement patterns, bail, press freedom, extraterritoriality, and asylum-risk assessment.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong / United Kingdom
- Body
- UK Home Office / UK Visas and Immigration
country informationasylumUK Home Officeextraterritoriality
Common Law as a Sword: A Jurisprudential Autopsy of Collusion Case
Statute Law Review, 2026
Case note on HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying [2025] HKCFI 6291, addressing common-law reasoning, collusion, and state power.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong
- Body
- Statute Law Review
Jimmy Laicollusioncommon lawcase note
The National Security Law for Hong Kong: A Corpus-Driven Comparative Study of Media Representations
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 10, Article 207 (2023)
Open-access corpus study comparing English-language press representations of the NSL in China Daily and Anglo-American media.
- Jurisdiction
- Hong Kong / Comparative Media
- Body
- Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
media discoursecorpus studyChina DailyAnglo-American press
Official Secrets Act 1989
1989 c. 6
UK legislation protecting defined classes of official information, useful for comparing state-secrets offences, disclosure restrictions, and public-interest defence debates.
- Jurisdiction
- United Kingdom
- Body
- UK Parliament
United Kingdomofficial secretsclassified informationdisclosure