Breaking
TRHe fell into the water-filled elevator pit... A 7-year-old boy lost his life!USJeffery Simmons trade: Titans deal All-Pro defensive tackle to the Bears, per CBS Sports insiderITThe ECB leaves rates unchanged at 2.50%. Lagarde: "Inflation is likely to increase"DEHuge explosion in apartment building – body recoveredTRDate announced in the 'trade secret' case between Apple and OpenAIINTLFrench Senate backs ‘Rioters Pay’ bill that could make protesters pay $11,000 finesKRDeath toll in Spanish high-speed train crash rises to 69CNBattle Cat helps out! Xiao Meiqin announced as the honorary chairperson of the 7 Female Generals and strongly promoted the "Seven Good Mayors"TRThe heart of the Turkish world beats in Ankara! Turkish States Civilization Park openedPLNew SAFE program pool. EUR 21 billion for armaments is waiting for those interestedTRHe fell into the water-filled elevator pit... A 7-year-old boy lost his life!USJeffery Simmons trade: Titans deal All-Pro defensive tackle to the Bears, per CBS Sports insiderITThe ECB leaves rates unchanged at 2.50%. Lagarde: "Inflation is likely to increase"DEHuge explosion in apartment building – body recoveredTRDate announced in the 'trade secret' case between Apple and OpenAIINTLFrench Senate backs ‘Rioters Pay’ bill that could make protesters pay $11,000 finesKRDeath toll in Spanish high-speed train crash rises to 69CNBattle Cat helps out! Xiao Meiqin announced as the honorary chairperson of the 7 Female Generals and strongly promoted the "Seven Good Mayors"TRThe heart of the Turkish world beats in Ankara! Turkish States Civilization Park openedPLNew SAFE program pool. EUR 21 billion for armaments is waiting for those interested
BackBid-rigging in renovation projects to be criminalised, offenders can be jailed
Bid-rigging in renovation projects to be criminalised, offenders can be jailed
NEWS
SCMP Economy1 hour agoLaw1 min readChina

Bid-rigging in renovation projects to be criminalised, offenders can be jailed

Regulatory overhaul follows independent committee report on fatal Tai Po blaze

Quick Look

  • The Hong Kong government plans to criminalize bid-rigging in building maintenance projects, introducing up to 10 years in prison for offenders.
  • The move follows an independent report into a fatal fire at Wang Fuk Court, which was undergoing renovations.

AI-generated summary

Why It Matters

The announcement follows an investigation into a fatal fire at Wang Fuk Court, which occurred during building renovations last November.

Font size

The Hong Kong government is set to criminalise bid-rigging in building maintenance projects under laws covering triad and corruption offences and allow authorities to take criminal or civil action against such conduct, following the release of an independent committee’s report on the fatal Tai Po blaze.

The regulatory overhaul on bid-rigging was announced on Thursday, as the government released the long-anticipated report of the independent committee investigating the causes of the devastating fire at Wang Fuk Court, which was undergoing large-scale renovations when the blaze ignited last November.

The change will introduce a criminal offence with penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and fines.

What to Watch

AI outlook — possibilities, not facts

  • Introduction of new criminal penalties for bid-rigging

    Very likely · Within months

Open Questions

  • When will the legislation be formally introduced to the legislature?

Related Topics

This article was originally published by SCMP Economy.

Related Stories

The Political Yuan passed the draft amendment to the "Minor Affairs Law". Yang Chengxun's father: affirmed the first step of reform and called on the Legislative Yuan to hold a public hearing.
Developing·

The Political Yuan passed the draft amendment to the "Minor Affairs Law". Yang Chengxun's father: affirmed the first step of reform and called on the Legislative Yuan to hold a public hearing.

The Executive Yuan passed a draft amendment to the "Act on the Handling of Juvenile Incidents", adding the requirement for victim participation in litigation and raising the parole threshold for juveniles in major criminal cases. The parents of the victim student Yang Chengxun affirmed the progress of the reform and called on the Legislative Yuan to hold a public hearing to conduct a more complete judicial review on issues such as sentencing and expungement of previous cases.

自由时报
3 min read
Legal experts talk about new regulations for protecting workers' rights and interests in new employment forms: suggestions to enhance operability
Developing·

Legal experts talk about new regulations for protecting workers' rights and interests in new employment forms: suggestions to enhance operability

For the first time, China has protected the rights and interests of workers in new forms of employment in the form of regulations. The draft for comments has made innovations in the identification of labor relations and algorithmic governance. Experts recommend further refining the cost calculation of minimum wage standards, clarifying algorithmic manual review procedures and rules for inverting the burden of proof to enhance the operability of the clauses.

中国新闻网
3 min read
After being accused by Zhou Yukou and others of the "Jinghua Rolling Bed Case", the heroine Zhang Shujuan asked for 20 million yuan, and the North Court announced the verdict at the end of the year.
Developing·

After being accused by Zhou Yukou and others of the "Jinghua Rolling Bed Case", the heroine Zhang Shujuan asked for 20 million yuan, and the North Court announced the verdict at the end of the year.

Media personalities Zhou Yukou and Cai Yuzhen accused Zhang Shujuan of being the heroine in the Jiang Xiaoyan scandal. Zhang Shujuan filed a defamation lawsuit and demanded 20 million yuan in compensation. The debate in the Taipei District Court Civil Court has concluded today, and the verdict is scheduled to be pronounced on December 31. The second instance of the criminal part has sentenced Zhou and Cai to fixed-term imprisonment respectively.

自由时报
2 min read
Childhood domestic violence caused a girl to have a "dual personality" and regressed to the age of 6. Her friend was accused of taking advantage of the opportunity to sexually assault her and was found not guilty.
Law·

Childhood domestic violence caused a girl to have a "dual personality" and regressed to the age of 6. Her friend was accused of taking advantage of the opportunity to sexually assault her and was found not guilty.

Xiao Ru, a 45-year-old female securities salesperson who has a dual personality due to PTSD, accused a male client surnamed Qiu of sexually assaulting her in 2013 when she was in the state of a 6-year-old child. The first instance sentenced him to 4 years and 6 months. After many remands, the High Court in the fourth instance found that it was impossible to prove that Xiao Ru was a 6-year-old at the time of the crime and that Qiu had the intention to take advantage of the opportunity to have sex, so the sentence was changed to not guilty.

自由时报
4 min read
Former Gao City Speaker Zeng Liyan was involved in fraud of tens of millions of assistant fees. The second trial lasted for 12 years. The Supreme Court remanded the case for further trial.
Developing·

Former Gao City Speaker Zeng Liyan was involved in fraud of tens of millions of assistant fees. The second trial lasted for 12 years. The Supreme Court remanded the case for further trial.

KMT Kaohsiung City Councilor Zeng Liyan was suspected of fraudulently obtaining 10.53 million yuan in assistant fees and was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the second instance. The Supreme Court now believes that the amount of fraudulent claims has yet to be clarified, and has dismissed the entire case and sent it back to the Kaohsiung High Court for further review.

自由时报
2 min read
More on this topicbid-rigging