Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Positive state obligations

Legal area

Court

24 Aug 2022

SHAM TSZ KIT v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE

Citation

[2022] HKCA 1247
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV557/2020

BL37 must be interpreted in its constitutional, legal and historical context to protect the freedom of marriage for heterosexual couples only; as lex specialis BL37 prevails over general equality and privacy provisions so BL25/HKBOR22/HKBOR14 do not independently confer a right to marry or require an alternative legal recognition for same-sex couples; HKBOR14 does not impose a positive obligation to provide civil unions or equivalent; foreign same-sex marriages need not be recognised under Hong Kong law; appeal dismissed.
23 Dec 2016

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS

Citation

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL15/2015

On the evidence the applicant was a victim of trafficking for forced labour and the HKSARG breached Article 4 BOR by failing to identify and investigate his case and by lacking adequate criminalisation and practical measures to protect victims; Article 4 BOR covers trafficking for the purposes of slavery, servitude or forced labour and imposes positive obligations on the HKSARG to enact effective measures and investigate credible suspicions.