Top court upholds equal rights for same-sex couples in housing and inheritance cases

The Court of Final Appeal has unanimously dismissed the appeals of the Housing Authority and the government, affirming three prior judgments that grant equal housing and inheritance rights to same-sex couples.

The decision was made on Tuesday morning, declaring that the existing public housing, home ownership policies, and estate regulations, which excluded same-sex couples, were unconstitutional.

Previously, the Housing Authority's public housing and Home Ownership Scheme policies did not recognize overseas married same-sex couples, thereby preventing them from applying for public housing or residing together in Home Ownership Scheme flats.

This exclusion prompted couples to challenge of differential treatment and seeking judicial review to reverse the Housing Authority's decisions, which they successfully achieved.

In a separate but related case, another man initiated a judicial review concerned that his husband would not be entitled to inherit his estate under the Intestate Estate Ordinance. This case also resulted in a victory for the complainant.

The Housing Authority and the government had subsequently appealed these decisions to the Court of Final Appeal, which today ruled in favor of the same-sex couples and firmly rejected the appeals.

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, in his ruling, stated that the policies excluding same-sex couples from public rental flats and subsidized flats sold under the city's Home Ownership Scheme "cannot be justified."

He emphasized that for needy same-sex married couples who cannot afford private rental accommodation, the government's exclusionary policy could effectively deprive them of any realistic opportunity to share family life under the same roof.

The appellant in the Housing Authority case was the Hong Kong Housing Authority, with Nick Infinger and Henry Li Yik-ho serving as respondents. Meanwhile, the appellant in the inheritance case was the Secretary for Justice, with the respondent being Henry Li Yik-ho. The judicial review in the inheritance case was initially filed by Henry Li Yik-ho's husband, Edger Ng Hon-lam, and was continued by Li following Ng's death.

(Staff reporter and AFP)
 

Read more: LGBTQ group welcomes top court's decision to back housing rights for same-sex couples