The Govt has every right to appeal but the vice like pressure they are applying is, we suggest, just another tool to squeeze the life out of the rule of law in HK.
Injunction request to be reexamined due to ‘importance of national security’ reports Nikkei Asia
HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s High Court on Wednesday granted a government plea to reconsider a ruling against the banning of a popular protest song.
Judge Anthony Chan gave the green light for the appeal “due to the importance of national security.” The official website of the judiciary said the hearing will be held on Sept 13. The appeal renews concern over the separation of powers and judicial independence that were long-standing pillars of the Chinese territory’s status as an international financial center.
Chan, one of a set of hand-picked national security judges, wrote in a decision published online: “It appears that the [secretary for justice] is endeavoring to argue that matters of national security are to be accorded such weight that the scope for judicial discretion on such matters is extremely limited (if it exists).”
The judge also said he allowed the appeal after considering the government’s argument that the court should refuse to grant an injunction “only in exceptional circumstances.”
A week after the High Court in late July refused to issue an injunction against the unofficial protest anthem, “Glory to Hong Kong,” the government criticized the judiciary in an unconventional notice. It stressed that the court is subordinate to the city’s national security law — vaguely worded legislation imposed by Beijing in mid-2020 that laid the groundwork for a clampdown on civil liberties.
The court “lacks institutional capacity and expertise” in national security, the Department of Justice said, and “should generally defer to the judgment of the executive branch.”
