Hong Kong’s leading press group can mount a legal challenge to the Transport Department’s new policy restricting media access to vehicle ownership records, a High Court judge has ruled.
Judge Russell Coleman handed down his judgement on Wednesday, approving the application by the Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) for a judicial review of the policy. The two sides should within 14 days agree a date for the hearing, which should take place no later than July 8.
The HKJA applied for a judicial review on April 5, three months after the government revised policies governing access to the registry.
Judicial reviews are considered by the Court of First Instance and examine the decision-making processes of administrative bodies. Issues under review must be shown to affect the wider public interest.
The new rules constituted a “disproportionate and unjustified restriction” on press freedom enshrined in the city’s mini-constitution, the group argued in its application.
“[The new policy] is unconstitutional by reason of it being incompatible with the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press at common law…” it added.
A system put in place in early January requires all journalists to submit a written submission with “adequate and detailed justification” to the transport commissioner if they wish to access the vehicle registry.
The transport commissioner will then decide whether there is a public interest in disclosing the vehicle information and whether this outweighs the right to privacy. There is no timeline for a decision.
“Under any circumstances, if the Commissioner reasonably believes that approving a particular application would be contrary to the interests of national security, or is likely to threaten public safety or prejudice the maintenance of public order, the application shall be rejected,” guidelines provided by the Transport Department read.
The HKJA said the Transport Department had received eight applications from journalists as of March 27, but none had been successful.
‘Genuine investigative journalism’
The new policy follows a landmark case concerning a reporter’s use of the public database to review records of vehicles involved in the Yuen Long mob attack at the height of the 2019 protests and unrest.
The top court last June overturned the conviction of reporter Bao Choy for making a false statement in her application to access the vehicle registry, saying it was made for the purpose of “genuine investigative journalism.”
A day after the top court’s ruling, authorities said they would review the verdict and “improve” procedures for vehicle registry access.
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