Hong Kong Electoral Law with English Roots: Rethinking The Simplistic Approach to Relief from Penalty for Excusable Illegal Conduct in Lam Pok v Lee Hin Long [2021] HKCFI 779

Abstract

1. At the height of the pro-democracy protests in November 2019, Hong Kong witnessed a historic turnout of 71.23%, amongst more than four million eligible voters, in the District Councils elections, in a de facto referendum on the legitimacy or otherwise of the Beijing and Hong Kong Governments. The pro-Beijing camp suffered what many considered a humiliating defeat, winning only 62 seats out of the 452 that were directly elected. Whilst commanding overwhelming public support, many of the newly elected pro-democracy District Councillors had been first-time candidates all but completely new to electoral politics, and understandably unfamiliar with the elaborate regime of election laws in Hong Kong. Pro-Beijing politicians have, no doubt also understandably, been keen to seize on procedural irregularities in their opponents’ campaigns and challenge their seats by way of election petitions, which are invariably assigned to the Constitutional and Administrative Law List of the High Court of Hong Kong.