Stalking
(HKLRC Report)

The Law Reform Commission released the Stalking Report on 30 October 2000. The following are the major recommendations:

1. The Administration should give consideration to reforming the law relating to domestic violence.
   
   
2. (a) A person who pursues a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of another, and which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other, should be guilty of a criminal offence.
   
   (b) For the purposes of this offence, the harassment should be serious enough to cause that person alarm or distress.
   
   (c) A person ought to know that his course of conduct amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think that the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.
   
   
3. It is a defence for a defendant who is charged with the offence of harassment to show that (a) the conduct was pursued for the purpose of preventing or detecting crime; (b) the conduct was pursued under lawful authority; or (c) the pursuit of the course of conduct was reasonable in the particular circumstances.
   
   
4. The courts should take into account the rights and freedoms provided in Article 17 (privacy, family, home and correspondence), Article 19 (freedom of expression) and Article 21 (peaceful assembly) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights when determining whether the pursuit in question was reasonable in the particular circumstances.
   
   
5. (a) A person who is guilty of the proposed offence of pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to harassment of another, and which he knew amounted to harassment of the other, should be liable to a fine and to imprisonment for two years.
   
   (b) A person who is guilty of the proposed offence of pursuing a course of conduct which amounted to harassment of another, and which he ought to have known amounted to harassment of the other, should be liable to a fine and to imprisonment for 12 months.
   
   
6. (a) A court sentencing a person convicted of the offence of harassment may make an order prohibiting him from doing anything which causes alarm or distress to the victim of the offence or any other person, as the court thinks fit.
   
   (b) A person who, without reasonable excuse, does anything which he is prohibited from doing by a restraining order should be guilty of an offence, which is punishable by imprisonment for 12 months.
   
   
7. The courts may require any person convicted of the offence of harassment to receive counselling, undergo medical, psychiatric or psychological evaluation, and receive such treatment as is appropriate in the circumstances.
   
   
8. (a) A person who pursues a course of conduct which would have constituted the offence of harassment should be liable in tort to the object of the pursuit.
   
   (b)The plaintiff in an action for harassment should be able to claim damages for any distress, anxiety and financial loss resulting from the pursuit and to apply for an injunction to prohibit the defendant from doing anything which causes the plaintiff alarm or distress.

Press Release (PDF) (MS Word)

Executive Summary (PDF) (MS Word)

Report (PDF) (MS Word)

Important Notices