Hong Kong’s law does not protect exclusive right of male villagers to build homes, say lawyers for ‘king of judicial reviews’ as small-house policy fight nears end

The exclusive right of male indigenous villagers to build three-storey homes in space-starved Hong Kong is not protected by the city’s mini-constitution, lawyers for the “king of judicial reviews” have argued in a landmark case at the top court.

But the government countered that argument was based on an incorrect interpretation of the Basic Law and maintained that the entitlement was part of “the lawful traditional rights and interests of the indigenous inhabitants” covered by the disputed provision.

On Monday, the Court of Final Appeal began hearing an unprecedented challenge on the constitutionality of the controversial small-house policy, which confers “Ding rights” only to male indigenous villagers to build homes in the New Territories.

The two-day appeal also raises broader questions of whether a victim of a discriminatory policy like appellant Kwok Cheuk-kin, a retired civil servant known for frequently taking the government to court, has sufficient standing to challenge the government via judicial review, and if the court should still grant relief in light of the delay in instituting litigation.

The anticipated challenge, brought to the city’s top court for the first time since the British administration formulated the policy in 1972, was heard just days after Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor targeted housing and land supply in the final policy address of her current term, in a bid to tackle the long-standing shortage.