Hong Kong court upholds new vehicle registry policy limiting journalist access - JURIST - News

## Summary
News Engin_Akyurt / Pixabay The Hong Kong Court of First Instance upheld a revised policy that limits journalists’ access to the vehicle registry on Friday. To obtain the particulars of a vehicle, journalists must now make a written submission to the Commissioner for Transport, outlining the purpose of obtaining the particulars of a vehicle and how it will be used. The government revised the policy in 2024, following the Court of Final Appeal’s ruling that quashed a journalist’s convictions of making a false statement to obtain the particulars of a vehicle under the city’s Road Traffic Ordinance . The court held that the original vehicle registry policy must have allowed a journalist to obtain the particulars of a vehicle for the purpose of good faith journalism, as a right guaranteed by the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights .

## Article Content
News
Engin_Akyurt
/ Pixabay
The Hong Kong Court of First Instance
upheld
a revised policy that limits journalists’ access to the vehicle registry on Friday. To obtain the particulars of a vehicle, journalists must now make a written submission to the Commissioner for Transport, outlining the purpose of obtaining the particulars of a vehicle and how it will be used.
Judge Russell Coleman reasoned that the policy compromises between the freedom of the press and the right to privacy of vehicle owners. He considered that journalism in Hong Kong is not a licensed profession, and allowing anyone who claimed to be a journalist to compel the government to release the particulars of a vehicle impinges on the owners’ right to privacy. As such, the policy strikes a balance between the two constitutional rights engaged by allowing the commissioner to assess whether the public interest served by disclosing the particulars of a vehicle outweighs the owner’s right to privacy.
The applicant, the Hong Kong Journalists Association, also challenged the legality of several individual delays and rejections of applications. While Judge Coleman did not accept that there were any unreasonable delays or unconstitutional rejections, he wrote that the application process time is reasonably expected to become much faster now compared to the initial period when the policy was first implemented. He also urged the Transport Department to correct paragraph four of its
guidance notes
to respect the freedom of the press and give it sufficient weight when considering a journalistic application.
The government
revised
the policy in 2024, following the Court of Final Appeal’s
ruling
that
quashed
a journalist’s convictions of making a false statement to obtain the particulars of a vehicle under the city’s
Road Traffic Ordinance
. The court held that the original vehicle registry policy must have allowed a journalist to obtain the particulars of a vehicle for the purpose of good faith journalism, as a right guaranteed by the
Hong Kong Basic Law
and the
Hong Kong Bill of Rights
.
In 2020, journalist Choi Yuk-ling obtained the particulars of several cars, as an attempt to identify the white-clad attackers of civilians in the
721 incident
for her television
documentary
. It was the same journalistic investigation that led to her now-quashed convictions.

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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- News Engin_Akyurt / Pixabay The Hong Kong Court of First Instance upheld a revised policy that limits journalists’ access to the vehicle registry on Friday.
- To obtain the particulars of a vehicle, journalists must now make a written submission to the Commissioner for Transport, outlining the purpose of obtaining the particulars of a vehicle and how it will be used.
- Judge Russell Coleman reasoned that the policy compromises between the freedom of the press and the right to privacy of vehicle owners.
- As such, the policy strikes a balance between the two constitutional rights engaged by allowing the commissioner to assess whether the public interest served by disclosing the particulars of a vehicle outweighs the owner’s right to privacy.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers vehicle, particulars, policy topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 375.