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Bar Association broadly backs new offence for persistent child sexual abuse

The Hong Kong Bar Association has said it “broadly supports” a dedicated offence for persistent child sexual abuse, after concerns over evidential issues in such…

By Samantha Johnson / August 8, 2026
The Hong Kong Bar Association has said it “broadly supports” a dedicated offence for persistent child sexual abuse, after concerns over evidential issues in such cases were resolved in other jurisdictions in the past two decades.

Vice-chairman Martin Hui Siu-ting said that while the association had reversed previous reservations it expressed when the city last discussed such a proposal in 2001, the new offence would require safeguards to ensure both sides were treated fairly at trial.

“We broadly agree to the introduction of such an offence of persistent child sexual abuse, which somehow reflects the past experience of at least 20 years of different jurisdictions within the criminal system,” Hui said.

While the government’s proposed overhaul of outdated sexual offence laws does not include provisions for a dedicated offence for persistent child sexual abuse, assault survivors and advocates have called for discussions on the issue to be reopened to plug loopholes.
With a one-month consultation period on the proposals having ended, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung said on Friday that his bureau would “actively consider” calls to introduce a separate offence for persistent child sexual abuse.

Authorities previously attempted to introduce such an offence between 2001 and 2002 to allow prosecutors to lay charges for long-term, repetitive sexual abuse even when the child concerned could not accurately recall the exact circumstances of each incident.

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