Hong Kong protests: deployment of ‘nuclear power’ emergency law for mask ban goes to Court of Final Appeal

Group of ex-lawmakers in last-ditch challenge of Hong Kong government’s decision to impose anti-mask law using colonial-era legislation

Prohibition on Face Covering Regulation introduced at height of protests in October 2019 to ban wearing of masks at all public gatherings

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The government’s anti-mask law is before the Court of Final Appeal this week. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:48pm, 24 Nov 2020Updated: 5:54pm, 24 Nov 2020

Former Hong Kong lawmakers have launched their final appeal against the government’s use of a colonial-era law to impose a blanket ban on wearing masks during protests last year, likening its deployment to “a nuclear missile launcher”.

Their lawyers asked the city’s top judges on Tuesday to distinguish between invoking the emergency law to counter anti-government demonstrations and drawing on similar legislation for the Covid-19 pandemic, even though both permitted officials to bypass the legislature at a time of crisis.

In one of the most constitutionally significant cases in recent years, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal was set to rule on the validity of the government’s decision to use the Emergency Regulations Ordinance to introduce the anti-mask law, which was enacted in October 2019 to outlaw face coverings at public gatherings.

Starting on Tuesday, the two-day cross appeal was brought by both the ex-opposition lawmakers and the government following a ruling in April this year by a lower court.

The Court of Appeal found then that while it was constitutional for the government to ban the wearing of masks at unauthorised or illegal assemblies, the same was not true for legal demonstrations.

Language in the ban granting police the authority to physically remove masks was also unconstitutional, the court added.

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