The government plans to tighten prison rules governing visits with inmates and people remanded in custody as part of efforts to safeguard national security and prison security.

In a paper submitted to the legislature, the Security Bureau said there had been cases in the past when some visitors abused the process by claiming they were there for the purpose of humanitarian relief.

It said visitors had incited people behind bars to resist supervision by the Correctional Services Department, aroused hatred of the central and local governments, or even turned them into potential national security and public safety risks upon their release.

Officials said they therefore plan to change the rules, so only those authorised by the correctional services commissioner would be allowed to make visits.

"[We propose changes] to clearly stipulate that the statutory purposes of visits are to facilitate the rehabilitation of people in custody, or to prepare them for reintegration into society," the bureau said in the document.

"[The visits would enable] people in custody to maintain connections with his or her family or with society, or provide mental or material support to [them]."

Under the proposal, the bureau said it plans to ban, restrict or impose conditions for visits by certain religious personnel on grounds such as national security, crime prevention or the rehabilitation of people in custody.

It stressed that the religious freedom of people behind bars would continue to be fully protected, in part because they could still see other religious personnel who would be allowed to enter correctional facilities.

Officials also plan to introduce a mechanism for the courts to ban people in custody from getting in touch with a particular legal representative or a certain registered medical practitioner for the purpose of filing appeals.

Authorities also plan to abolish the current practice of allowing people in remand pending trial to procure their own food and wear their own clothes.

They said private diets can easily become a tool to engage in secret dealings and have become one of the main causes of disputes in the facilities, while allowing people to wear their own clothes may give rise to security risks arising from unauthorised articles being brought in.

The Security Bureau also plans to make it an offence for people to resist or obstruct correctional services officers performing their duties, with offenders subject to a maximum penalty of a HK$2,000 fine and six months in prison upon conviction.