Longhair Suffers Setback On Prison Haircuts Appeal

The Court of Appeal on Tuesday refused to send a legal challenge by disqualified lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung over prison haircuts to the city's top court, saying the issue wasn't of "great general or public importance".

Leung, who is popularly known as Longhair, was forced to have his trademark locks chopped off when he served a short prison sentence in 2014 over a protest he had been involved in.

In January 2017, he won a judicial review in the High Court after arguing that being as there is no such haircut rule for female prisoners, making male inmates have their hair cut amounts to sex discrimination and is therefore unconstitutional.

But the Correctional Services Department (CSD) managed to get the ruling overturned at the Court of Appeal.

The CSD argued that male inmates with long hair would be at a greater risk of being injured if they are attacked by other prisoners and that they could also hide weapons in their hair.

In a written ruling rejecting Leung's bid to take his case further, the Appeal Court judges noted that the matter involves "the context of a prison setting where freedom of inmates is necessarily subject to restrictions, and disciplinary considerations are highly relevant".

The three-judge panel said the haircut requirement is in line with "conventional standards of appearance of males and females", and Leung’s lawyer had failed to demonstrate that the rule amounts to "less favourable treatment" under sex discrimination laws.

The ruling said that the difference in requirements for male and female inmates does not have "so great an impact" that it gives rise to any "great general public importance" that the top court should deal with.

But speaking after learning of the decision, Leung said he believes the Court of Final Appeal should hear his case even if only a small number of people are affected by the issue.

"If you deny the rights of a particular [individual] that means you can deny the rights of all," Leung said.

The League of Social Democrats activist said he would now file an application for an appeal directly to the top court.

The Court of Appeal ordered Leung to pay the government's legal costs of HK$53,000.