Legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing has decided not to appeal against a court judgment that dismissed her action accusing the Xinhua boss of breaking a privacy law.
She said her lawyers had advised against it, given the time and costs involved.
Mr Justice Frank Stock ruled two weeks ago that the summons, which ordered Director Jiang Enzhu to appear in court, should be quashed. Mr Jiang was not with Xinhua when Ms Lau alleged the breach took place.
Ms Lau said Mr Justice Stock had agreed her complaint was genuine and that it was difficult to file lawsuits against unincorporated associations. She urged the administration to deal with the issue.
'How can people prosecute unincorporated associations, especially when the organisations are involved in criminal cases? Who should be prosecuted?' Ms Lau said the Government did not seem to be aware that prosecutions concerning privacy had to be filed within six months.
She wrote to the director of Xinhua in December 1996, asking if the agency kept information on her.