The government says the move will safeguard national security and ensure prison security.
Under the plan, the authorities will be able to seek a court warrant to ban lawyers from visiting prisoners or those on remand, or place restrictions on them such as no visits during a trial.
Some lawmakers asked for a clarification as to whether people could be banned from visiting any prisoner, or just particular inmates.
Security minister Chris Tang said this would depend on individual cases.
“Generally, the ban applies only for visiting a particular person behind bars, but not other inmates,” he said during a security panel meeting at the legislature.
“But of course we have to look at individual cases, say if the lawyer or the religious person does things that endanger national security with other inmates, then we’ll seek a ban for sure.”
Tang also said that under the proposal, it would be possible for bans to extend beyond a particular lawyer to an entire legal firm, if there were reasons to believe national security may be affected.
Lawmaker Paul Tse asked whether such a move could be justified.
The minister said in response that a ban would be issued by a magistrate after considering evidence submitted by the authorities, and there would be means for those concerned to file appeals or judicial reviews.
The government also wants to abolish the current practice of allowing people on remand to procure their own food from designated caterers, rather than eating prison food.
Lawmakers Benson Luk and Dennis Leung, from the Business and Professionals Alliance and the Federation of Trade Unions respectively, said they were shocked to learn that those on remand could drink beer in the past.
Tang said the government thinks it’s time to do away with outdated practices, while adding that since 2020, the authorities have used administrative measures to ban alcoholic drinks for those behind bars.
The government said it plans to finalise changes to the prison rules as soon as possible and they will come into effect as soon as the bill is gazetted.
The legislature will then deal with the matter by way of negative vetting.
