Last-ditch bid to win right to same-sex marriage gets go-ahead from Hong Kong Court of Appeal
- Court of Appeal approves human rights activist’s last-chance attempt to get recognition for same-sex unions
- Three judges rule questions raised are of great public importance and should go to the highest level for judgment
The Court of Appeal on Thursday granted detained activist Jimmy Sham Tsz-kit a certificate to allow his last attempt to win full rights for married same-sex partners at the Court of Final Appeal.
The move came after Sham, 35, asked for a judicial review in 2018 in an attempt to get a declaration that Hong Kong laws violated a constitutional right to equality by its recognition of foreign opposite-sex marriages but not same-sex ones.
But the Court of First Instance dismissed the application in September 2020 and a ruling by the lower appeal court in August upheld the initial judgment.
Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor, and Susan Kwan Shuk-hing and Carlye Chu Fun-ling, vice presidents of the appeal court, ruled that marriage was the preserve of opposite-sex couples and the government had no obligation to recognise same-sex unions.
But Sham’s counsel asked the panel of judges to approve an application for a final appeal, which has been granted.