A policeman who claimed he was unfairly barred from promotion for life because of his relatives' criminal convictions lost his lawsuit against the force yesterday when a court ruled that the real reason for the ban was doubts about his integrity.
Sergeant Chan Tak-keung sought to overturn the Police Commissioner's October 1999 decision to bar him from promotion for life. Sergeant Chan had argued that the decision was largely made because some of his relatives had criminal records.
He complained that 'excessive, improper and disproportional weight' was attached to those records.
But in his Court of First Instance ruling yesterday, Mr Justice Andrew Chung On-tak described the complaint as 'factually incorrect'.
'The respondent never considered the criminal background of [Sergeant Chan's] relatives to be decisive. Rather, the respondent's focus has always been on the applicant's integrity and risk of compromising himself in his work,' Mr Justice Chung said.
Sergeant Chan joined the force as a constable in 1983 and became a sergeant by 1992. He was recommended for promotion to inspector in September 1998 after passing all the examinations and board interviews, the court had heard.
