Hong Kong police chief taken to court as man accuses officers of abuse of power over ID card request

HONG KONG, Aug 3, 2020, SCMP. A Hong Kong man has taken the city’s police chief to court and accused an officer of abusing his power when he demanded to see his identity card, South China Morning Post reported.

Ng Ka-lun, a member of the Hong Kong Teaching and Research Support Staff Union, lodged an application for judicial review at the High Court on Friday, challenging the unfettered power of police to inspect residents’ identity cards under the city’s immigration laws.

The 35-year-old had been questioned by police while urging people to join trade unions on Labour Day.
Commissioner of Police Chris Tang Ping-keung, and the secretary for justice, were listed as respondents in the filing. A hearing date has yet to be fixed.

Ng’s lawyers accused police of inventing an excuse about him being a stowaway in order to record his personal details, as well as those of three other people, on May 1.

The group were on a footbridge outside Polytechnic University, where they had set up a booth and were encouraging people to actively exercise their political rights.

According to the court filing, the four men were asked by four officers to show their ID cards because the police – instead of suspecting them of breaking the law – needed to know who was behind the street campaign.

The group insisted the officers had no authority to make the request, because they had no reasonable suspicion that the four committed any offences.

An officer, identified by his serial number 18664, was quoted replying: “You have to produce your identity card anyway. I am a police officer.”

The filing said the officer then alleged Ng might be an illegal immigrant, and asked him to display his ID card immediately. The officer said a failure to do so might amount to obstructing police.

Ng finally gave in, his lawyers said, because he was afraid the officer might use force.

In a subsequent exchange, police confirmed to Ng that the officer had exercised his power under section 17C of the Immigration Ordinance in issuing the demand.

The legislation states that any ID card holder aged 15 or above must produce proof of their identity on demand for inspection by any officer. The High Court further ruled in 1991 that the police could invoke the section for purposes unrelated to investigations into immigration offences.

But Ng’s counsel, led by Hectar Pun Hei SC and Anson Wong Yu-yat, argued the 1991 ruling was made before the commencement of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights, with which the ruling was incompatible.

They said such power constituted a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of the person and freedom of movement, as it purportedly authorised officers to arbitrarily interfere with people’s rights without adequate safeguards.

“There is practically no limit on the circumstances in which the power [of the police to inspect residents’ identity cards] under that section can be exercised,” the filing said.

“The power may on the face of it be used for random stoppage of anyone [aged 15 or above who holds an identity card] at any place.”