The Institute of Certified Public Accountants has decided not to appeal against a court ruling that requires it to resume distributing newsletters to its members for Civic Party legislator Mandy Tam Heung-man. Institute president Mark Fong Chung said it made the decision despite legal advice that it had 'perfectly legitimate grounds to lodge an appeal' and 'a very good chance of winning'. The major consideration was not to further politicise the debate, he said. In a judicial review last month, the High Court said the professional body would need very strong reasons to justify its refusal to continue delivering the accountancy sector legislator's mail, which it had been doing for 20 years. The legal battle arose when the institute decided last October to stop mailing Ms Tam's newsletter to its 26,000 members, about 80 per cent of whom were registered voters in the accountancy sector. Only about 300 members who requested the newsletter continued to receive it. The institute said the newsletter's political content was irrelevant to the professional practices of members. Mr Fong said yesterday the institute had no choice but to continue distributing the newsletter in compliance with the court judgment. 'If we were to proceed with legal action, we would be embroiled in political disputes,' he said. But he did not rule out members taking action under privacy laws if they felt their addresses should not be used for such mails. He sidestepped the question of whether financial considerations had held the institute back from an appeal, but said various factors had come into play in the difficult decision. The court ruled the institute had to pay the legal costs incurred by both sides in the judicial review, though the amount to be paid was unknown. The professional group sent a letter to members yesterday explaining its decision. It also set up a function on its website to allow members to indicate that they did not want to receive the lawmaker's newsletters. Ms Tam said she welcomed the decision and hoped to co-operate with the institute to promote benefits for the accountancy sector. She would not refrain from publishing political content in future newsletters, however. 'I won't bend myself to fit into your political views. I won't censor my speech,' she said.
