Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Contract variation by statute

Legal area

Court

29 Nov 2004

MICHAEL REID SCOTT v. HKSAR

Citation

MICHAEL REID SCOTT v. HKSAR
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV401/2003

By majority the Court held that section 10 of POPAO unlawfully inserts into pre‑1997 employment contracts an express statutory power permitting unilateral pay reductions; that insertion materially altered conditions of service to make them less favourable than before 1 July 1997 and therefore breached Article 100 of the Basic Law; accordingly section 10 is unconstitutional and the applicants are not bound under their contracts to accept the legislated pay reduction.
10 Jun 2003

GOVERNMENT PARK AND PLAYGROUND KEEPERS UNION AND OTHERS v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE

Citation

GOVERNMENT PARK AND PLAYGROUND KEEPERS UNION AND OTHERS v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL180/2002

The Public Officers Pay Adjustment Ordinance 2002 is constitutionally valid: it lawfully varied civil service pay prospectively in accordance with an established, long‑standing collective mechanism; it applied to a constitutional class (public servants) and was not retrospective, did not unlawfully deny access to courts, did not contravene Arts.100,103,102,105,35,39 or 160 of the Basic Law, and was a proportionate exercise to serve legitimate constitutional fiscal aims (including Art.107). The applications for judicial review are dismissed.