The government may intervene in private prosecutions “brought out of improper motives”, Hong Kong Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said, hinting at actions against private charges brought by pro-democracy lawmakers in relation to the ongoing social unrest.

In Cheng’s blog post published on Tuesday, she said private prosecution proceedings were open to abuse and those that are “groundless or frivolous or brought out of improper motives or political considerations” should not be condoned.

She added that the Department of Justice has a constitutional duty to “control criminal prosecutions” and discontinue a private prosecution that has no reasonable prospect of conviction or brought out of improper motives.

Cheng’s comments came as pro-democracy lawmakers were pursuing private cases in relation to the year-long anti-government protests.

Last week, a magistrate agreed to summon a police officer in a case brought by Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui. The officer shot a protester with live ammunition last November. Hui was also given permission last week to pursue a case where a taxi driver was accused of ramming a cab into a crowd of protesters in October.

People Power’s Raymond Chan has also filed an application to lay a private charge against pro-Beijing lawmaker Aron Kwok, who allegedly assaulted Chan in the city’s legislature chamber last month.

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