Hong Kong journalists’ group asks court to remove roadblock to searches of Transport Department car registration details
- Hong Kong Journalists Association tells High Court restrictions on access to vehicle registration information are ‘excessive and unreasonable’
- It adds the present policy is ‘unlawful, being unreasonable, irrational, unjustifiable and unconstitutional’
A Hong Kong journalists’ organisation has launched a court challenge against an “unjustifiable and unconstitutional” policy that blocked reporters from access to vehicle owners’ details.
The Hong Kong Journalists Association applied to the High Court for a judicial review of the policy almost three months after it was introduced, over which period no applications for access have been approved.
The association has asked for the information access roadblock, which came into force at the start of the year after a 2023 court ruling, to be removed.
The Court of Final Appeal last June ruled in favour of Bao Choy Yuk-ling, a freelance producer, after she challenged a conviction over the use of the government’s vehicle registry for a documentary that was critical of police actions during the 2019 social unrest.
A panel of judges said that journalism was a valid reason for access to the government records. The Transport Department introduced new information request rules in January as a result.