Hong Kong protests: part of legal bid against first police use of tear gas on demonstrators ‘reasonably arguable’, court says
- But High Court says the case should be handled through civil action rather than judicial review
- Bid centres on police use of tear gas on protesters on June 12, 2019, which became a watershed moment in months-long unrest
The High Court has ruled part of a legal bid challenging a police decision to use tear gas for the first time during the 2019 anti-government movement in Hong Kong is “reasonably arguable” but the case should be handled through a civil action rather than a judicial review.
A legal challenge would require resolving substantial disputes of facts, which was impossible using the evidence presented in the affidavit submitted, Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming wrote in his judgment on Wednesday as he granted leave to the applicants to proceed with the civil action.
Police had approved the demonstration that day, but events escalated for the first time into a violent confrontation between protesters and officers, who fired 240 rounds of tear gas.
At issue was whether it was lawful and constitutional for officers to use tear gas grenades, without reasonable prior notification, to disperse a meeting allowed by police.
Chow said that while officers were entitled to use force in carrying out their duties, the force they actually deployed should be no more than what was reasonably necessary and prior warning should be given if the circumstances permitted.