Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Recognition of foreign same-sex marriage

Legal area

Court

26 Nov 2024

SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE v. LI YIK HO

Citation

[2024] HKCFA 30
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FACV4/2024

A same-sex couple validly married abroad is relevantly comparable to a heterosexual married couple for purposes of the IEO and IPO; the Secretary for Justice failed to establish that maintaining definitional 'coherence' across statutes is a legitimate aim or that any such aim is rationally connected to the exclusion; the differential treatment based on sexual orientation is unjustified and unconstitutional; appropriate remedy is a declaration and remedial interpretation reading IEO s3(d) and IPO s2(1)(d) and related references to 'husband' and 'wife' to include spouses of foreign same-sex mar…
24 Oct 2023

NG HON LAM EDGAR v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE

Citation

[2023] HKCA 1224
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV558/2020

The Court of Appeal (Cheung JA, Yuen JA, Au JA) upheld the finding that the IEO and IPO definitions excluding spouses of foreign same-sex marriages effect differential treatment on the prohibited ground of sexual orientation; same-sex marriages lawfully performed abroad are relevantly comparable and the exclusion is not rationally connected to the legitimate aims advanced by the Government; the differential treatment is unjustified and unlawful discrimination, so the appeal is dismissed and the lower court order stands (including remedial interpretation and declaratory relief).