FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE     30 June 2025 

(5th Anniversary of the National Security Law)｜Hong Kong

• HKROLIN Complaint Exposes NSD-NSC Power Grab Behind “Article 23 Legislation”

• The Emperor Has No Clothes: New Subsidiary Rule Is a Constitutional Fraud

• How the HKSAR Government Abused the NPCSC Interpretation to Usurp Power and Enable Mainland-Led Governance by Local Decree

HONG KONG  — The Hong Kong Rule of Law Initiative (HKROLIN.org) today released a Public Accountability Complaint exposing a constitutional deception at the heart of Hong Kong’s new “Article 23 Subsidiary Legislation.” The so-called subsidiary legislation is nothing more than a fabricated legal shell—a power structure disguised in legal form, drafted by the HKSAR Government to serve as Beijing’s invisible enforcement proxy.

The regulation, fast-tracked in May 2025, purports to authorize the Office for Safeguarding National Security (OSNS) to “ascertain” whether it should intervene in a local case. The National Security Committee (NSC)—chaired by the Chief Executive—then adopts the OSNS’s opinion as a binding “decision,” which the entire HKSAR Government and judiciary are required to obey.

The Government claims this power structure is grounded in the NPCSC’s 2022 Interpretation. Yet the Interpretation granted no such authority. It never conferred on the NSC any “supra-constitutional” status, nor did it authorize the HKSAR to enact secondary legislation that overrides judicial independence. HKROLIN charges that this maneuver amounts to “issuing a false edict in the name of Beijing” and “insulting the sovereign”—a self-generated legal illusion cloaked in the authority of Beijing.

The Complaint explains that the NPC’s 2020 “5.28 Decision” authorised only the NPCSC to enact the National Security Law. The HKSAR Government has no constitutional power to unilaterally construct a new enforcement regime through local regulation. The “Article 23 Subsidiary Legislation” far exceeds the limits of Basic Law Article 23, violates the One Country, Two Systems framework, infringes on human rights, and contradicts the National Security Law itself.

“The NSC was designed as an internal policy body answerable to Beijing but embedded within the HKSAR’s executive leadership. Under the Government’s new scheme, it has been elevated to a de facto Emperor—immune from oversight, beyond accountability, and placed above all three branches of government.”

This phantom system was deployed for the first time on 12 June. Acting on an OSNS “opinion,” the NSC issued a decision that enabled the national security police to apply for warrants and travel document surrender orders. The court approved them—but not through independent judgment. Presented with a binding NSC ‘decision,’ the judiciary was forced to comply. The rule of law was subverted in plain sight.

“This is the Emperor’s New Clothes. There is no legal legitimacy—only a manufactured illusion. And once exposed, it vanishes.”

HKROLIN has formally submitted its Complaint to the Chief Executive, the Secretary for Security, the Commissioner of Police, the Chief Justice, and the United Nations Human Rights Committee, calling for:

• Immediate repeal of the “Article 23 Subsidiary Legislation” (Instrument A305A) and Section 112(3) of the “Article 23 Legislation” (Instrument A305) on grounds of unconstitutionality and ultra vires.

Full Complaint available at: Public Accountability Complaint #1 (2025-06-30)

Media Contact:

HKROLIN Institute

 info@hkrolin.org

www.hkrolin.org