HONG KONG
A Hong Kong Public Servant’s attempt to have his same sex marriage recognised by the Government so that his partner can have access to spouse benefits has ended in defeat in the Special Administrative Region’s Appeals Court.
Angus Leung Chun-kwong (pictured), a senior Immigration Officer, initiated a judicial review against the Civil Service Bureau in late 2015 after it refused to accept Scott Adams, who he married in 2014, as his husband .
Mr. Leung won the case in April last year at the High Court, prompting the Government to appeal.
“It is a huge step back for equality in Hong Kong,” Mr Leung said after the Appeals Court overturned the earlier ruling.
“We are not asking for special treatment; we just want to live our lives fairly and with dignity.”
He said he would seek legal advice on whether to take his case to the city’s top court.
The three appeal judges handed down a 69-page ruling explaining why they had rejected the lower court’s position.
They said the present case centred on the balance to be struck between the Government’s legitimate aim of protecting traditional marriage and the inroads into Mr Leung’s right to equality.
Mr Justice Cheung noted that the case in Hong Kong was different from cases elsewhere because of the Basic Law, Article 37, which stipulated that “the freedom of marriage of Hong Kong residents and their right to raise a family freely shall be protected by law”.
He said it was undisputed that the word “marriage” referred to the union between a man and a woman, and he therefore concluded there was “a fundamental constitutional backing” for the Government’s legitimate aim.
A permanent Hong Kong resident, Mr Leung joined the Department of Immigration in 2003 and tied the knot with Mr Adams in April 2014 in New Zealand.
Hong Kong, 2 June 2018
