Hong Kong court finds Lam’s mask ban unconstitutional

Bloomberg

A Hong Kong court has found that the local government’s controversial mask ban unconstitutional, delivering a fresh legal blow to an administration struggling to contain increasingly
violent protests.
The High Court ruling came on Monday in response to a challenge filed by the city’s opposition lawmakers. Chief Executive Carrie Lam imposed the ban last month by invoking colonial-era emergency powers for the first time in more than a half century.
“The government should fully respect the decision,” Alvin Yeung, an opposition lawmaker, said of the court’s ruling.
Following the ruling, Senior Police Superintendent Li Kwai-wah told a regular briefing that officers would temporarily stop enforcing the mask ban. Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, the city’s No. 2 official, told a separate briefing that the government had no immediate comment on the ruling.
Lam’s move on October 4 to invoke the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, which was last used during riots in 1967, sparked protesters’ fury and prompted a fresh wave of demonstrations.
The protests were among the most violent seen at that point, resulting in the fire bombing of a police officer, the shooting of a teenage protester and citywide train disruptions.
The ERO permits the government to grant itself sweeping new powers, including the ability to censor publications and the internet, and arbitrarily detain people and search properties. Monday’s ruling raises questions about how far the government can go under that statute.
“The court seems to be putting some real limits” on the ERO, said Antony Dapiran, a Hong Kong-based lawyer and the author of City of Protest:
A Recent History of Dissent in Hong Kong.
Some protesters have deliberately flouted the ban by wearing masks and costumes at rallies. Police have arrested hundreds over alleged violations of the regulation, which called for jail sentences of up to one year for violators.
Judges Godfrey Lam and Anderson Chow said the measure “exceeds what is reasonably necessary to achieve the aim of law enforcement, investigation and prosecution of violent protesters even in the prevailing turbulent circumstances in Hong Kong, and that it fails to strike a reasonable balance between the societal benefits promoted and the inroads made into the protected rights.”
They also ruled the ban was disproportionate due to its “remarkable width” and that there “is practically no limit on the circumstances in which the power under that section can be exercised by a police officer.”
Yeung, the lawmaker, said opposition politicians warned the chief executive not to invoke powers under the ERO because they were unconstitutional.
He said the situation reminded him of the government’s attempt to pass the extradition bill that first prompted the historic wave of demonstrations in June.

HK’s Lam urges besieged protesters to heed police
Bloomberg

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam urged protesters holed up in a Kowloon university to heed police calls to surrender, as activists called for more rallies near the campus to support the trapped demonstrators.
Police and protesters have clashed around Hong Kong Polytechnic University for much of the day, leading to multiple arrests and injuries as dozens tried to flee the area. Running battles have occurred, with police firing tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who threw bricks and Molotov cocktails while hiding behind umbrellas.
Demonstrations seeking greater democracy in the Beijing-controlled territory have become increasingly violent in recent weeks, with protesters vandalising transportation networks and China-friendly businesses as they push for demands including an independent inquiry into police
violence.