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Emergency Regulations Ordinance
The Emergency Regulations Ordinance (Cap. 241) is a law of Hong Kong that confers on the Chief Executive in Council the power to make regulations on occasions that the Chief Executive believes to be an emergency or public danger. It was first introduced in Colonial Hong Kong in 1922 to combat the seamen's strikes which had immobilised the city's ports, and was invoked on several occasions during the colonial rule.[2]
In case of emergency or public danger, it can be invoked by the Chief Executive-in-Council. Under the provisions of the ordinance, the Chief Executive has the power to make "any regulations whatsoever which he may consider desirable in the public interest." Among the many powers permitting the Chief Executive to exercise upon invoking the ordinance, it also include arrests, property seizures, deportation, control of the ports and transportation, and censorship.[3][4]
The government invoked the ordinance during the 1967 Hong Kong riots, during the oil crisis in 1973[5], and during the 2019 Hong Kong protests.[4]
Contents
In January 1922, the Chinese Seamen's Union demanded pay rises of up to 40% from their local employers, and some 30,000 Chinese seamen went on strike. Their grievances lay in the fact that the average Chinese port worker's monthly income was insufficient to support his family while his Caucasian counterparts, who earned several times more, had been granted 15% wage rise. The Emergency Regulations Ordinance was passed by the colonial government that year – enacted in a single day – to combat the strikes, which paralysed the ports.[2]
Aside from format changes made in 2018, the last major amendments to the ordinance was in 1999.[6]
Provisions
Scholars consider the law "a nuclear option" which "can literally run a dictatorship and suspend most rights."[3] The authority granted to censor specifically covers "the control and suppression of publications, writings, maps, plans, photographs, communications and means of communication."[3][4]
The last significant use of the law was in December 1973 during the oil crisis. Regulations were made to control the use of oil and motor fuel, to limit advertising displays and floodlighting. and to impose summer time.[7]
Special Administration Region period
On 4 October 2019, as a response to the 2019 Hong Kong protests the Chief Executive in Council invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to impose a law to ban wearing face masks or obscure facial identificationin public assemblies.[8][9][10] Effective 00:00 HKT on 5 October 2019, offenders risk one year imprisonment or a fine of HK$25,000 ($3,200).[11][12] An application for judicial injunction of the anti-mask law was denied by court on the same night shortly before the new regulation took effect.[13] A subsequent attempt[14] by pro-democrats to halt the new regulation also failed, however, judicial review was recommended at a later date.[15]
The Emergency Regulations Ordinance (Cap. 241) is a law of Hong Kong that confers on the Chief Executive in Council the power to make regulations on occasions that the Chief Executive believes to be an emergency or public danger. It was first introduced in Colonial Hong Kong in 1922 to combat the seamen's strikes which had immobilised the city's ports, and was invoked on several occasions during the colonial rule.[2]
| Emergency Regulations Ordinance | |
|---|---|
| Legislative Council of Hong Kong | |
| Legislative history | |
 | |
Long title
| |
| Citation | Cap. 241 |
| Enacted by | Legislative Council of Hong Kong |
| Commenced | 28 February 1922 |
| Bill | Strike Legislation Bill 1922[1] |
| Introduced by | Attorney GeneralJoseph Horsford Kemp |
| First reading | 28 February 1922 |
| Second reading | 28 February 1922 |
| Third reading | 28 February 1922 |
| Status: In force |
The government invoked the ordinance during the 1967 Hong Kong riots, during the oil crisis in 1973[5], and during the 2019 Hong Kong protests.[4]
Contents
In January 1922, the Chinese Seamen's Union demanded pay rises of up to 40% from their local employers, and some 30,000 Chinese seamen went on strike. Their grievances lay in the fact that the average Chinese port worker's monthly income was insufficient to support his family while his Caucasian counterparts, who earned several times more, had been granted 15% wage rise. The Emergency Regulations Ordinance was passed by the colonial government that year – enacted in a single day – to combat the strikes, which paralysed the ports.[2]
Aside from format changes made in 2018, the last major amendments to the ordinance was in 1999.[6]
Provisions
Colonial period
Scholars consider the law "a nuclear option" which "can literally run a dictatorship and suspend most rights."[3] The authority granted to censor specifically covers "the control and suppression of publications, writings, maps, plans, photographs, communications and means of communication."[3][4]
The last significant use of the law was in December 1973 during the oil crisis. Regulations were made to control the use of oil and motor fuel, to limit advertising displays and floodlighting. and to impose summer time.[7]
Special Administration Region period
On 4 October 2019, as a response to the 2019 Hong Kong protests the Chief Executive in Council invoked the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to impose a law to ban wearing face masks or obscure facial identificationin public assemblies.[8][9][10] Effective 00:00 HKT on 5 October 2019, offenders risk one year imprisonment or a fine of HK$25,000 ($3,200).[11][12] An application for judicial injunction of the anti-mask law was denied by court on the same night shortly before the new regulation took effect.[13] A subsequent attempt[14] by pro-democrats to halt the new regulation also failed, however, judicial review was recommended at a later date.[15]
