Human rights in Hong Kong
[3] There are concerns over the freedoms to the people which is restricted by the Public Order Ordinance, as well as strong domestic and international criticism of the national security law, perceived by many to have eroded certain rights.
[4] The United Nations and the UN human rights experts have repeatedly warned that offences under the NSL are vague and overly broad, facilitating abusive or arbitrary implementation.
This is occasionally used as a yardstick by commentators to judge whether the People's Republic of China has kept its end of the bargain of the "One Country, Two Systems" principle granted to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region by its current mini-constitution, the Basic Law, under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Once there is a prima facie violation of a protected right, the government bears the burden of justifying the breach by showing: However, controversies exist over whether the courts have the power to conduct a constitutional review of a legislative act of the National People's Congress or its Standing Committee.
During a demonstration on 1 January 1998, civil activists Ng Kung Siu and Lee Kin Yun extensively defaced the National and Regional Flags.
On 2 February 2008, Commissioner of Police Tang King Shing warned that sharing the photos via email, and even storing them on a personal computer, might be illegal, even if there was no record of distribution.
This inaccurate statement of the law led to the objection of Leung Kwok-hung, who accused the police of sowing confusion and creating an atmosphere of "white terror" among netizens.
Secretary for Food and Health York Chow Yat-ngok rebuffed claims of political oppression by saying the authority was merely enforcing the law after receiving complaints.
[48] On 14 March 2002, a number of Falun Gong practitioners were engaged in a peaceful demonstration outside the main entrance to the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
[51] However, in 2003 Falun Gong protestors were charged with obstruction of a public place after a peaceful demonstration outside the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
[66] Despite fierce opposition from church groups,[67] on 16 December 2009, Hong Kong's Legislative Council passed a bill extending its Domestic Violence Ordinance to apply to same-sex couples.
In Secretary for Justice and others v. Chan Wah and Others,[69] the second respondent complained of having been excluded by electoral arrangements from standing as a candidate in village elections on the ground he was not indigenous, although he had lived there all his life.
[73] The Hong Kong government has provided public funding for the treatment of transgender people covering counselling and, for those who proceed further, the provision of gender reassignment surgery.
[76][77] On 16 September 2013 Eliana Rubashkyn a transgender woman was discriminated and sexually abused for the airport's staff,[78] forcing international organizations like United Nations and Hong Kong NGOs to provide assistance as a refugee becoming a stateless person,[79] she suffered for more than 9 hours invasive body search.
Sir Anthony Mason NPJ, in his judgment in the landmark case Shum Kwok Sher v. HKSAR,[81] said, "International human rights jurisprudence has developed to the point that it is now widely recognised that the expression "prescribed by law", when used in a context such as art.
Whether they are justifiable will in the end depend upon whether it remains primarily the responsibility of the prosecution to prove the guilt of an accused to the required standard and whether the exception is reasonably imposed, notwithstanding the importance of maintaining the principle which Art 11(1) enshrines.
[49] The Court held that, in order to be compatible with Article 28 of the Basic Law, the first limb must be read as encompassing the second and did not eliminate the requirement for reasonable suspicion of guilt.
[114] He remarked that some law enforcement officers were dishonest and unwilling to cooperate,[115] behaved in an arrogant and presumptuous manner that was bordering on recalcitrance,[116] and disobeyed orders by deleting relevant recordings of covert surveillance.
[117] It was also revealed that the government relied on a Canadian precedent to question the Commissioner's power to access covert surveillance recordings, and that a legislative amendment may be required to clarify the situation.
[118] An outrage was caused when it was revealed ICAC officers spent four days tapping a man's phone line although their target was a supposed to be female.
Justice Andrew Cheung ruled that inmates have the constitutional right to register as voters and cast their ballots while serving sentences, which was unjustificably infringed by the indiscriminate ban.
[120] Two League of Social Democrats activists also applied for a judicial review to challenge the legality of corporate voting on the grounds that it contravened Article 26 or was discriminatory in nature.
[122] The definition of Hong Kong permanent residents is listed in Article 24 of the Basic Law, under which this class of persons enjoy the right of abode.
[123] This has drawn criticism from Hong Kong citizens who argue that instead of wanting to give birth to their children in a better hospital, mainland mothers are exploiting the law in order to receive right of abode.
[127] High-profile persons denied entry include Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou[128] and Jens Galschiot, the sculptor of the Pillar of Shame that commemorates the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
[141] However, Article 138 of the Basic Law requires the HKSAR to improve medical and health services by formulating policies to develop Western and Chinese medicine.
According to them, the protesters had been peacefully staging rallies against the Court of Final Appeal ruling that the majority of 5,114 people seeking residence in the territory did not have right to stay in Hong Kong and should return to mainland China.
[124] One incident where a protester was led by seven police officers to a remote location and subsequently beaten received significant media coverage and public outcry.
[149][150] Political activist Christina Chan claimed that policemen visited her parents' home the day before the anti-high-speed rail demonstration and asked irrelevant questions.
[151] In February 2010, immediately after Andrew To became the Chairman of the League of Social Democrats, he was charged with assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty for his conduct during a demonstration on 1 October 2009.
