Judge rules Hong Kong government must pay legal costs for Joshua Wong and two other Occupy activists
Court of Final Appeal backs trio’s application as decision brings an end to controversial case linked to protest that began 79-day occupation of city’s central district
The government must pay the legal costs of three Hong Kong democracy activists, after the trio won a ruling on Friday that brought an end to a controversial case linked to the protest that sparked the Occupy movement in 2014.
However, Mr Justice Joseph Fok of the Court of Final Appeal countered: “It seems to us that if the issues were one of public interest, which they clearly were, this is all the more justification for awarding the successful appellants the costs of resisting the sentence review.”
Wong, 21, Law, 24, and Chow, 27, were awarded costs for the review of sentence at the Eastern Court and the Court of Appeal, plus their successful appeal to the Court of Final Appeal, in which they were funded by legal aid.
Wong also won costs for legal advice before receiving legal aid for his application for leave to appeal; while Law and Chow were awarded additional costs to cover their applications to the Court of Appeal last September, despite the fact they were unsuccessful.
The 10-page ruling concluded a controversial saga that began on September 26, 2014 when Wong and Chow stormed the east wing forecourt of the local government headquarters with unnamed others, while Law incited others to follow suit.