Disqualified Hong Kong lawmaker Lau Siu-lai was denied chance to respond to allegations of not upholding Basic Law, judge says
- Senior Counsel Paul Shieh says Lau was not given a chance to respond to allegations of improper oath-taking during a swearing-in ceremony
- He questioned why Lau was barred from a by-election when Edward Yiu, also accused of improper oath-taking, was allowed to run in Kowloon West
Disqualified lawmaker Lau Siu-lai was denied the opportunity to respond to allegations of not genuinely upholding Hong Kong’s mini-constitution before she was barred from trying to win back her seat in the Legislative Council, a judge has observed.
Mr Justice Anderson Chow Ka-ming made the remark on Thursday while hearing an election petition from Lau, who has asked the High Court to determine whether pro-establishment lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan had been duly elected to the office of Kowloon West constituency in November 2018.
The opposition activist was one of six lawmakers elected during the 2016 elections but disqualified by the court over improper oath-taking during their swearing-in ceremony, which later triggered Beijing’s interpretation of the Basic Law’s Article 104 on oaths.
She had planned to run for the same office but was banned on October 12, 2018, after returning officer Franco Kwok Wai-fun found she had not genuinely changed her previous position of advocating self-determination for Hong Kong, despite her ditching the stance ahead of the polls.
Paul Shieh Wing-tai SC said Lau was not given a chance to respond to the allegations.
