Legislator 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung has won his court challenge to a law that bars people with a pending jail term from contesting a Legislative Council election.
Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon struck down as unconstitutional a section of the Legislative Council Ordinance, saying it contravened Hong Kong people's right to vote and to stand for election. It was inconsistent with the Basic Law and the Bill of Rights, he said.
The section he referred to disqualifies anyone from being nominated as an election candidate if they are due to serve a jail term during the nomination or election period. Nominations open next month.
Unless challenged by the government, the ruling clears the way for Leung to stand in the Legco election in September, although he has yet to serve a two-month term for disrupting public order. He is on bail pending an appeal, but had applied to revoke his bail and serve the sentence.
A jubilant Leung said outside court that he would cancel the application, which was to have been heard today. But he said he had not decided yet whether to take part in the election. 'I have to get back my fundamental rights first,' he said.
Government lawyers said they would need to study the written judgment before deciding whether to seek a suspension of the ruling or file an appeal.
Asked if he was worried that his rights would be affected if the government applied for a suspension, Leung said: 'I would see it as strange for a government to make such an effort to stop a person standing for election.'