Hong Kong protests: woman injured during intense clashes loses legal fight over police access of her medical records
- Woman identified only as K was pursuing copies of search warrants officers used to unseal her hospital reports, arguing her privacy rights were violated
- But Court of Appeal dismisses her bid, saying she could protect her privacy through other legal avenues and her true motive was to know scope of police investigation
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday sided with the lower Court of First Instance in finding the woman, anonymised as K, did not have a free-standing right to view the warrants, which she claimed police used to access her personal data without her consent.
The appellate court further held that police were entitled to obtain K’s personal information via the warrants for the purpose of a criminal inquiry and there was “no basis” for her to assume she was not a person being investigated.
Lawyers for K, who was granted anonymity for fear of having her details shared online, had accused police of depriving her of her rights to privacy and access to court by way of failure to disclose the warrants on demand.
They argued the warrants – which contained information including the name of the magistrate who endorsed them, the police’s rationale for the applications and the scope of the search – were required before they could move forward with further litigation, including a direct challenge against the lawfulness of the police seizure.
But Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor, chief justice of the High Court, said such a move was unnecessary.