HK pair disqualified as lawmakers
Print Edition
HONG Kong’s High Court ruled yesterday that two legislators-elect who used insulting language against China while taking their oaths last month must be disqualified as lawmakers.
The ruling came after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government and Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying filed a judicial review on October 18 against the decision by the president of the Legislative Council (LegCo) to give the pair a second chance to be sworn in.
Justice Thomas Au ruled in favor of the SAR government, finding the oaths taken by the two to be invalid.
The pair manifested a clear intention to refuse to take the oath, whether in form or in substance, as required under the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Oaths and Declarations Ordinance, according to the verdict.
The two legislators-elect have been disqualified from assuming office and vacated their seats as members of the LegCo since October 12, and are not entitled to act as members, the verdict said, adding that the office of member of the LegCo previously occupied by each of the two is now vacant.
The court also ruled that the president of LegCo has no power to re-administer or allow for re-administration of any future oath-taking by the two.
In addition, it barred the pair from claiming to be entitled and/or acting as members of the LegCo.
Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching used derogatory language insulting the Chinese nation when reading out their oaths at a swearing-in ceremony on October 12. Yau also displayed a banner proclaiming “Hong Kong is not China.”
Their behavior prompted the country’s top legislature, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, to issue an interpretation of Article 104 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law on November 7, clarifying the implications and requirements of oath-taking by Hong Kong legislators-elect.
According to the interpretation, oath-taking must comply with the legal requirements in respect of its form and content. An oath taker must take the oath sincerely and solemnly, and must accurately, completely and solemnly read out the oath prescribed by law.
The interpretation is binding on all Hong Kong courts and the courts should give effect to it, according to the court ruling.
If an elected LegCo member intentionally declines to take the oath as prescribed, it is invalid and he or she shall be disqualified from assuming office.
Leung, the chief executive, said he welcomed the court’s decision and added that the SAR government would act in accordance with the law.
LegCo President Leung Kwan-yuen said that he respected the judgment of the court.
“It is an unfortunate incident. But it is a good thing that the court clarified the law in this area,” he said.
“I sincerely hope that lawmakers and society can refocus on the affairs of the Legislative Council and its work in monitoring the government.”
The court’s ruling came amid a public outcry both in and outside Hong Kong against the pair’s behavior, with a signature drive demanding that they apologize and retract the insulting comments gaining the support of more than 1 million people online.
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