{"id":5778,"date":"2025-01-10T09:33:27","date_gmt":"2025-01-10T01:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/?p=5778"},"modified":"2025-01-10T09:33:29","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T01:33:29","slug":"clock-ticking-after-lgbtq-legal-victory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/clock-ticking-after-lgbtq-legal-victory\/","title":{"rendered":"Clock ticking after LGBTQ+ legal victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jasmine Kwong<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong, 10 January 2025:<\/strong> After another landmark court victory for Hong Kong\u2019s LGBTQ+ community, attention now turns to a looming deadline for the government to provide an alternative legal framework that recognises same-sex relationships. Thus far, the authorities have yet to provide an update on their deliberations or engage in any public consultations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 2024, the Court of Final Appeal unanimously upheld three key judgments granting equal housing and inheritance rights to same-sex couples. In doing so, it dismissed the administration\u2019s appeals which sought to preserve discriminatory and unconstitutional housing policies and intestacy laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the f<\/a>irst matter<\/a>, the CFA ruled that the Housing Authority was wrong in turning down an application by permanent resident Nick Infinger to rent a public flat under the \u201cOrdinary Families\u201d sub-category with his husband because their marriage in Canada was not recognised in Hong Kong. In the second matter, heard together with the first, the CFA ruled in favour of Henry Li and his late husband Edgar Ng in their judicial review of the Housing Authority\u2019s decision to bar same-sex spouses from being added as an occupant in subsidised flats under the Home Ownership Scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said the exclusion of same-sex married couples from the definition of \u201cordinary families\u201d and \u201cspouses\u201d under the government\u2019s Public Rental Housing Scheme and Home Ownership Scheme were discriminatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He rejected the Housing Authority\u2019s contention that the housing benefits enjoyed exclusively by opposite-sex couples were \u201centrenched\u201d and should be immune from a judicial challenge raised on the basis of inequality. He said the government body had failed to provide evidence showing the potential impact on opposite-sex couples if its policies were relaxed. \u201cThe challenged policies cannot be justified,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Li and Ng were also victorious in the third matter<\/a>, successfully challenging the Intestates\u2019 Estates Ordinance and the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Ordinance. In their ruling, Justices Roberto Ribeiro and Joseph Fok held that some provisions in the two pieces of legislation were \u201cdiscriminatory and unconstitutional\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days that followed, high-profile lawmaker Junius Ho criticised the judgments and urged the government to override the CFA by inviting Beijing to provide an interpretation of the Basic Law. His request was turned down by the Department of Justice, which reiterated that the \u201crelevant legal disputes should be resolved locally in judicial proceedings\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The CFA\u2019s rulings followed earlier legal successes for the LGBTQ+ community in matters concerning taxation, civil servants\u2019 benefits and the ability to use their preferred gender on identity cards<\/a>. However, the overall development of equal rights for sexual minorities in Hong Kong continues to be snail-paced. The progress made thus far can be described as incremental, relying heavily on individuals taking legal action, often at great cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are currently 36 jurisdictions around the world where same-sex marriage is legal, Taiwan being the only one in Asia, although Thailand is poised to join this progressive movement, with its legalisation set to take effect on 23 January. Same-sex union is against the law in Hong Kong, although public surveys show growing support for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2023, the CFA handed a partial \u2013 but still significant \u2013 victory to the LGBTQ+ community<\/a> by ruling that the government had not fulfilled its constitutional duty to provide a legal framework for recognising same-sex relationships. The top court suspended its declaration for two years to give the administration time to establish an appropriate mechanism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Erick Tsang revealed last May that officials were working with the Department of Justice to develop the framework. However, activists have expressed frustration over the administration’s lack of further information or progress updates and the absence of any public consultation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clearly, the calendar is turning quickly towards September 2025. We await with interest the government\u2019s plan of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jasmine Kwong is an Associate Solicitor at BC&C, developing her practice in both criminal and civil litigation. She is involved in cases across various areas of law, including fraud recovery claims, contractual disputes, employees\u2019 compensation, personal injury claims, defamation, and matrimonial matters. She can be contacted at <\/strong>jasmine@boasecohencollins.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jasmine Kwong Hong Kong, 10 January 2025: After anot […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-54"],"yoast_head":"\nClock ticking after LGBTQ+ legal victory - \u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/clock-ticking-after-lgbtq-legal-victory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Clock ticking after LGBTQ+ legal victory - \u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jasmine Kwong Hong Kong, 10 January 2025: After anot […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/clock-ticking-after-lgbtq-legal-victory\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u5e03\u9ad8\u6c5f\u5f8b\u5e08\u884c\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-10T01:33:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-10T01:33:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/RightsLGBT_PHOTO.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"903\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Niall Donnelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u4f5c\u8005\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Niall Donnelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9884\u8ba1\u9605\u8bfb\u65f6\u95f4\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 \u5206\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/clock-ticking-after-lgbtq-legal-victory\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boasecohencollins.com\/zh-hans\/%e7%bd%91%e8%aa%8c\/clock-ticking-after-lgbtq-legal-victory\/\",\"name\":\"Clock ticking after LGBTQ+ legal victory - 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