Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Marriage capacity
  • 13 May 2013

    W v. THE REGISTRAR OF MARRIAGES

    Citation
    W v. THE REGISTRAR OF MARRIAGES
    Court
    Court of Final Appeal
    Case number
    FACV4/2012

    Majority held that although the domestic statutes were originally construed to adopt Corbett’s biological criteria, those criteria are now too restrictive because they ignore psychological and social factors and post‑operative medical realities and therefore, as so construed, unconstitutionally impair the essence of the right to marry; the proper remedial interpretation is to read "woman"/"female" in MO s40 and MCO s20(1)(d) to include post‑operative male‑to‑female transsexual persons certified by appropriate medical authority, with declarations suspended for 12 months to permit legislative a…

  • 25 Nov 2011

    W v. REGISTRAR OF MARRIAGES

    Citation
    W v. REGISTRAR OF MARRIAGES
    Court
    Court of Appeal
    Case number
    CACV266/2010

    The Court held the Registrar did not misconstrue the Marriage Ordinance and related provisions: the words "woman" and "female" in the statutory context refer to biological sex determined at birth as reflected by Corbett which was given legislative recognition in Hong Kong; consequentially the Registrar's refusal was lawful and the provisions do not offend BL37, BOR19(2) or ICCPR23(2); any change to permit post-operative transsexuals to marry in acquired gender is a matter for the legislature.