Court Rejects Review Bid Over Cop's Jesus Remark

The High Court has dismissed an application by a Hong Kong resident to launch a judicial review over a remark made by a police officer, who allegedly told a pastor “ask your Jesus to come see me” during an anti-extradition bill protest outside Legco on June 12.

The applicant, Alan Tam, had demanded that the Police Commissioner, Stephen Lo, apologise over the incident.

But Justice Anderson Chow said the case obviously exceeds the scope of what a judicial review can handle. He also said he considers the case not “reasonably arguable”.

The judge also cited earlier court decisions to support his decision. Chow pointed out that in a 2011 judgement, the court had ruled that a judicial review is not a tool to solve all disputes in society.

The judgement in a case from 2007 said for a judicial review to be warranted, a decision being challenged must have deprived the applicant of their interests and advantages, the judge said.

In seeking a judicial review, Tam had said the police officer in question had “no unfettered discretion” to discriminate against or insult others on the basis of their religious beliefs.

He had also claimed that since Jesus Christ is not a “natural person” in the legal sense, the officer’s request to see him was apparently ridiculous, illogical and unreasonable.

Tam said he and fellow Christians felt offended and upset by the remark, and had therefore become “secondary victims” of the incident.