'The code has simply not kept pace with legal development,' Mr Justice Reyes said. The advertising ban also ran against public interest.

Kwok Ka-ki, the lawmaker for the medical sector, said the council would have to change the code. 'Until there is an appeal, we need to observe and follow the court's recommendations,' he said.

The judicial review was initiated by Kwong Kwok-hay, assistant medical superintendent of the Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital.

Mr Justice Reyes agreed with Dr Kwong's arguments, ruling that the restrictions, in section 5 and two other paragraphs of the code, violated the free speech provisions of Articles 27 and 39 of the Basic Law, and Article 16 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance.

'Where there is an interference with a guaranteed right [such as the freedom of expression],' Mr Justice Reyes said, 'it is incumbent upon the infringing authority [the Medical Council] to give cogent reasons for justifying the infringement.'

Dr Kwong said yesterday: 'We feel that members of the Medical Council are sensible and intelligent people and they are also committed to safeguard benefits of the public. I hope that with this verdict, they would amend the code.'

The Sanatorium's medical superintendent, Walton Li Wai-tat, said doctors were not asking for the right to advertise their services without restrictions. 'Blanket advertising is not professional, but then on the other hand the blanket suppression of any doctors giving interviews to the press for fear of prosecution [for promoting their services] is also not right,' Dr Li said.

Medical Council chairwoman Felice Lieh Mak said she was seeking legal advice and would study the judgment before commenting.

Vice-president of the Hong Kong Medical Association Louis Shih Tai-cho said he personally did not think overturning the ban would encourage abuse.

He said misleading ads or claims that one doctor was better than another were ethical issues that were under the council's purview.