Recent Hong Kong legislation has renewed scrutiny regarding the Chief Executive's authority to determine when acts involve national security issues.

The recent enactment of a subsidiary legislation in Hong Kong regarding the appropriate procedure to be followed in cases of non-national security offences involving national security considerations not surprisingly spurred some to revisit the chief executive’s power, granted under the national security law in 2020, to issue a certificate as to whether an act involves issues of national security. That some people express concern that such an important task is left to the executive and not the...