The District Court today sentenced the mastermind of a cross-boundary bogus marriage syndicate to four years jail.

The Immigration Department said a syndicate was found to have arranged for Hong Kong residents to conduct bogus marriages with Mainlanders in 2008.

More than 20 Hong Kong residents were involved in the scam.

The syndicate's mastermind and a core member were arrested, and 15 Hong Kong residents were convicted of conspiracy to defraud, and aiding and abetting others in making false representations to immigration officers.

Sentencing for the member's case will be on July 4.

Chief Executive CY Leung said there was no legal basis to stop Edward Snowden from leaving Hong Kong, saying the case shows the city's adherence to the rule of law.

Speaking to the media today, Mr Leung said American Mr Snowden left Hong Kong as a normal passenger using the usual and lawful channels, for a third country yesterday, while the Government was still processing US authorities' request to issue a provisional arrest warrant for him.

“We were asking the United States government for further important information on the case. There was no legal basis to stop Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.”

Noting that some in the US are unhappy about Mr Snowden’s departure, Mr Leung said both the local and international community expect Hong Kong to uphold the Basic Law, the rule of law, and to follow procedural fairness and justice.

He said the case is a good example to illustrate the 'One Country, Two Systems', 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' and 'high degree of autonomy' principles, and shows the city upholds the rule of law, procedural fairness and justice.

Meanwhile, the Immigration Department issued a statement today clarifying that it has received no notification from the US government of Mr Snowden's passport being revoked.

The Law Reform Commission published a consultation paper today proposing to repeal the excepted offences listed in Schedule 3 to the Criminal Procedure Ordinance.

The Secretary for Justice chairs the commission, and it includes the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal.

Under the ordinance, a suspended sentence cannot be imposed in respect of any of the excepted offences listed in the schedule.

Commission Secretary Stephen Wong said the concept of suspended sentences was introduced to Hong Kong under the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1971.

The creation of excepted offences was the result of strong opposition to the bill from some Legislative Council members who expressed concern at the sharp increase in crime, and especially violent crime, since 1960.

The commission said the public sentiments behind the excepted offences 40 years ago have long gone, and the original rationale for having exceptions no longer applies.

Some serious offences are not on the schedule while some less serious ones are. For instance, under the present regime, an offender convicted of unlawful intercourse with a girl under 13 years (which is currently not listed as an excepted offence) may be sentenced to a suspended jail term.

The court has no discretion but to impose a term of immediate imprisonment for an offender convicted of attempted indecent assault (which is currently listed as an excepted offence) where a non-custodial sentence is not appropriate.

He said the issue can give rise to a general sense of unfairness and arbitrariness.

"It is desirable to allow judges and magistrates an appropriately wide degree of discretion to achieve a just and appropriate sentence depending on the circumstances of the case, with the option of suspending sentences.”

Mr Wong added the commission also believes there is no cause to worry the repealing will increase the risk of harm, and has confidence judges and magistrates will exercise their sentencing discretion.

Views can be sent to the commission secretary by email by September 23.

Two former Government officials were convicted by the District Court today for a $700,000 housing allowance swindle.

Former Secretary for Development Mak Chai-kwong and Assistant Director of the Highways Department Tsang King-man were found guilty of a joint count of conspiracy to defraud and related charges.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption said Mak and his wife bought a flat at City Garden, North Point, in 1985 and Tsang and his wife bought an identical flat on the floor above. They then leased each other's flats at the same monthly rent and executed their respective lease agreements with the named landlord as each other's wife.

The court heard Mak and Tsang conspired together to defraud the Government by falsely representing that they did not have financial or proprietary interest in the flat they leased and that the lease in relation to each of the flats was genuine.

They applied for private tenancy allowances and received about $260,000 and $445,000 from the Government from August, 1986, to December 31, 1990.

Judge Johnny Chan adjourned sentencing to August 8, and released them on bail.