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My Take
Opinion
Alex Lo

My Take | Courts must crack down on abuse of judicial reviews

The judiciary must screen out frivolous or malicious applications; after all, a judicial review is not a political tool or a platform to voice discontent

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More than a year after retired Court of Final Appeal judge Henry Litton warned against the widespread abuse of judicial reviews for political purposes, the trend has continued unabated. Photo: Bruce Yan
Alex Loin Toronto

More than a year after retired Court of Final Appeal judge Henry Litton warned against the widespread abuse of judicial reviews for political purposes, the trend has continued unabated.

Until recently, it was the political weapon of choice for many pan-democratic and anti-government groups. Now, some pro-Beijing activists have followed suit. There have been at least three applications for judicial reviews since October on the subject of localist lawmakers who failed to take their oaths of office properly. This was despite legal cases already launched at the time by the government against those legislators.

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Now, the latest is an application by Cary Lo Chun-yu, a law student, seeking a judicial review of the government’s planned Hong Kong Palace Museum at the arts hub in West Kowloon. He claims there should have been a public consultation and a tendering process for the project’s chief architect. This is despite the fact that a public consultation has now been launched.
JR Group co-convenor Cary Lo Chun-yu seeks a judicial review of the planned Hong Kong Palace Museum. Photo: Nora Tam
JR Group co-convenor Cary Lo Chun-yu seeks a judicial review of the planned Hong Kong Palace Museum. Photo: Nora Tam
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