Face mask ban at rallies and protests ruled constitutional

Hong Kong's top court has rejected a legal challenge by 25 pro-democracy figures over the Chief Executive’s imposition of the anti-mask law amid the social unrest last year, upholding the constitutionality of the face mask ban and the emergency laws by which the CE imposed it, RTHK reports.

A five-judge panel at the Court of Final Appeal unanimously ruled that the ban on face masks at protests and rallies was proportionate and no more than reasonably necessary to prevent violence.

It also rejected the applicant’s challenge to the constitutionality of the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, by which the mask ban was imposed.

The court held that the ambit of the power to make subsidiary legislation under the ordinance in an emergency or a public danger was not unconstitutional.

The High Court first ruled in November last year that the anti-mask law was unconstitutional as it went “further than necessary” in the restriction of fundamental rights.

But the government challenged that ruling, and while the Court of Appeal in April agreed that the banning of facial covering at authorised protests and rallies was unconstitutional, it affirmed the Chief Executive's powers to impose emergency regulations under the colonial-era law.

Both parties were unhappy with the ruling and took the case to the Court of Final Appeal.