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Banning face masks: One step towards restoring law and order The Chief Executive's announcement on Friday, that the government plans a ban on facial coverings by those who participate in public meetings and processions, as well as on those involved in unlawful and unauthorized assembles and riots, is a move in the right direction. Like the bank robbers and rapists who don balaclava helmets, the men and women of violence, who have become an integral part of every public protest, rely on anonymity to protect themselves from the consequences of their crimes. This prohibition may at least give some of them pause for thought, although probably not the hard core.  The violence and wanton destruction of recent times have been designed to undermine the rule of law, and anything that might deter those responsible from further depredations is to be welcomed. Quite clearly, people who have to display their faces in public are less likely to commit serious offences. Similar measures, moreover, have already been adopted around the world, including North America and Europe, and have proved effective. In the US, for example, New York State adopted a face mask ban for participants in public protests as early as 1845, in order to promote public safety, with many other states following suit. In 2013, Canada also proscribed the wearing of face masks by those involved in riots and unlawful assemblies, although it also went one step further, and introduced an associated offence of wearing a mask with intent to commit an indictable offence. The Emergency Regulations Ordinance (Cap 241), under which the prohibition has, as a regulation, been effected, was enacted in 1922. It is a well-established tool for dealing with grave public order situations. The Basic Law, moreover, stipulates that pre-1997 ordinances "shall be maintained", unless they "contravene this Law", which the ERO clearly does not. Although some people have claimed that the Chief Executive in Council does not have the pow