Appeal court reinstates ban on Hong Kong government making electoral registers public
- Move delays government plan to reopen voter registers to public viewing
- Junior Police Officers’ Association wanted lower court ruling overturned over doxxing fears
An appeal court has reinstated a temporary ban on election authorities in Hong Kong from publicly disclosing voters’ details, delaying the government’s plan to reopen voter registries for public viewing on Wednesday.
The Court of Appeal decision followed an appeal lodged on Tuesday by the city’s largest police group, the Junior Police Officers’ Association (JPOA), who sought to overturn a lower court’s ruling against barring the publication and public inspection of the registries.
The association also applied to renew a short-term ban on the disclosure of voters’ personal details until the resolution of the appeal proceedings. The ban previously took effect last October until April 8, when the Court of First Instance turned down the JPOA’s judicial review application.
Justices of Appeal, Johnson Lam Man-hon and Aarif Barma, granted the association’s request and reintroduced the ban until next Monday, when the court will determine whether to extend the ban until the substantive appeal is heard on May 5.
The Registration and Electoral Office, having announced earlier it would reopen the registries for public inspection at two of its offices from Wednesday, said it would suspend the arrangements until further notice.
