Pro-govt Camp Welcomes Mask Ruling, Rivals To Appeal

Pro-establishment lawmakers on Thursday welcomed a Court of Appeal ruling that found parts of the government's emergency mask ban and the legislation used to impose it to be constitutional, even though it also upheld a lower court's decision to strike down part of the law.

The court did agree that a ban on face masks at authorised public assemblies, which was introduced last October amid the city's social unrest, was unconstitutional.

But it found that such a ban at unauthorised protests does not contravene the Basic Law.

DAB lawmaker Horace Cheung was more interested in the part of the judgement that found that the Emergency Regulations Ordinance (ERO) invoked to bring in the anti-mask ban to be constitutional.

"We welcome that the court reaffirmed that the emergency regulation is applicable after 1997, and actually that is quite an important legal tool for the government to deal with emergency situations and the public danger situation in Hong Kong," he said.

"Certainly due to the pandemic in the last couple of months, the protests on the streets have almost disappeared. But the Hong Kong people are still quite worried about the situation in the coming future, when the pandemic disappears, that there will be violence on the streets."

Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Priscilla Leung also welcomed the court's ruling on the ERO.

"Because it relates to the discretionary power enjoyed by the Chief Executive together with the Executive Council. This is a very important power inherent within the authorisation of the Basic Law. So it is not solely an issue within the limits of Hong Kong," she explained.

Pro-democracy legislators, who brought the initial legal challenge against the mask ban, were left disappointed.

Speaking for the camp, Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok said they would now take the issue to the Court of Final Appeal.

Referring to the decision that a ban on face masks at unauthorised protests is okay but not for approved protests, Kwok said the Court of Appeal must be "living on a different planet".

"The police can always declare, as we have seen, that they would use their power to declare an assembly unlawful within five minutes. And they would request more than a million people there in a peaceful manner to disperse within 30 minutes. This is the Hong Kong we're living in," he said.

"It seems like the Court of Appeal does not see that. And it also seems that the Court of Appeal judges are too trusting of our executive authorities to restrain their use of power."

Kwok said the judgement means the mask ban is partially revived, which will lead to "fear and confusion" in the community during the current coronavirus pandemic.

"When am I required to take my mask off? Even as a lawyer, I have to think about that question before giving an answer. So for ordinary Hong Kong citizens, it causes a lot of fear and confusion. So there's only one solution, I call upon Chief Executive Carrie Lam to repeal this law".