High Court asks activist Edward Leung to pay up and apply for trial date for election petition case
Disqualified Hong Kong Indigenous leader to pay HK$20,000 to proceed with claim
Hong Kong’s High Court has asked independence advocate Edward Leung Tin-kei to apply for a trial date so his petition against a government decision to disqualify him from last month’s Legislative Council elections can be heard in court.
To proceed with his claim, Leung would pay the court a deposit of HK$20,000 as a guarantee of future expenses, High Court registrar Lung Kim-wan heard on Friday.
Under section 66 of the Legislative Council Ordinance, an election petition is considered withdrawn if the petitioner fails to pay the security deposit within five working days of lodging the claim.
In his petition, Leung claimed his disqualification from the September 4 election was “unconstitutional” and amounted to “an unreasonable restriction” of his rights to be elected under the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance.
Leung told media last week he expected the hearing would start a year from now, and he was confident of success.
“Nine out of 10 people with legal knowledge would think I’d win,” he said, adding that he thought a by-election might be possible if the court ruled in his favour within two to three years.