Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Prior restraint

Legal area

Court

18 May 2021

CHEE FEI MING substituted by PUN LIN FA v. DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND OTHERS

Citation

[2021] HKCFA 16
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FAMV213/2020

Leave to appeal was refused because the applicants' proposed construction was not reasonably arguable: the Court of Appeal's purposive construction that s.104A(1)(b) applies to bills/posters displayed with a degree of permanence and habitual regularity (which includes the attended static Falun Gong banners at the same sites) is correct; attendance does not remove a display from the statutory scheme; the proportionality challenge was not reasonably arguable on the existing material (absence of a contested permission decision and insufficient evidence of unlawful content‑screening), so there wa…
31 Aug 2018

CHEE FEE MING v. DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2018] HKCFI 2031
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL73/2013

Section 104A(1)(b), as applied to banners displayed with a degree of permanence and habitual regularity at demonstrators' sites, failed the 'prescribed by law' requirement because the statute contains no criteria or accessible legal guidance limiting the Director's discretion and thus did not afford adequate protection against arbitrary interference with freedoms of expression, assembly and demonstration; accordingly decisions taken under s104C(1) premised on s104A were quashed. The proportionality challenge was not decided on the merits given evidential gaps and the successful legal certaint…
31 Aug 2018

HUNG SHUI FUNG v. DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2018] HKCFI 2031
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL110/2013

S 104A(1)(b), as applied to banners used in demonstrations with a degree of permanence/habitual regularity, failed the "prescribed by law" requirement because the statute contains no accessible or sufficiently precise criteria constraining the grant or refusal of prior approval (and the Management Scheme did not apply on the facts), rendering the removal powers exercised under s104C invalid; accordingly the impugned removal decisions were quashed.
8 Jul 2016

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG v. HONG KONG COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING CO LTD AND ANOTHER

Citation

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG v. HONG KONG COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING CO LTD AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMP2801/2015

The Court held that the Council materials and audio recordings were prima facie confidential, that the University had established a right to protection of that confidentiality against persons who had obtained the materials as at the date of the originating process, and that the public interest did not outweigh the duty of confidence on the evidence before the court. Accordingly a final injunction was appropriate against the described persons unknown who had appropriated or obtained the information as of 30 October 2015; a declaratory remedy was refused as unnecessary; costs were ordered on a…
8 Jul 2005

LEUNG KWOK HUNG AND OTHERS v. HKSAR

Citation

LEUNG KWOK HUNG AND OTHERS v. HKSAR
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FACC1/2005

The Commissioner's statutory discretion to restrict public processions for the purpose of 'public order (ordre public)' is insufficiently precise and therefore fails the constitutional 'prescribed by law' requirement; the proper remedy is severance of the broader 'ordre public' element leaving the narrower law-and-order concept of 'public order' (maintenance of public order/prevention of public disorder) in ss.14(1), 14(5) and 15(2). After severance the discretion limited to 'public order' satisfies constitutional requirements including necessity/proportionality. The statutory notification re…
8 Jul 2005

LEUNG KWOK HUNG AND OTHERS v. HKSAR

Citation

LEUNG KWOK HUNG AND OTHERS v. HKSAR
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FACC2/2005

Majority held that the Commissioners statutory discretion to restrict public processions for the purpose of 'public order (ordre public)' in ss.14(1), 14(5) and 15(2) is constitutionally deficient under the 'prescribed by law' requirement because 'ordre public' is overly wide and insufficiently circumscribed for executive discretion; the appropriate remedy is severance of the concept into a constitutionally certain 'public order' (law-and-order sense) which remains valid; the notification regime is constitutional; the Commissioner must apply a proportionality test and give adequate reasons;…

Hong Kong Case Law

CHEE FEI MING substituted by PUN LIN FA v. DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND OTHERS

CHEE FEE MING v. DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND ANOTHER

HUNG SHUI FUNG v. DIRECTOR OF FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE AND ANOTHER

THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG v. HONG KONG COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING CO LTD AND ANOTHER

LEUNG KWOK HUNG AND OTHERS v. HKSAR

LEUNG KWOK HUNG AND OTHERS v. HKSAR