Same-Sex Couples Must Pick Their Battles in Hong Kong Courts

By David S. Ma

The Repulse Bay Front Lawn, a popular wedding venue in Hong Kong.  Photo by Jessie Fung

In 2018, three individuals independently applied for judicial review in Hong Kong to seek the recognition of same-sex marriage on constitutional grounds.  This article summarizes the judgments of the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“HKCFI”) on two of these applications. The third application (TF v Secretary for Justice HCAL2648/2018) was stayed, and there was no update at the time of writing.

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^{Photo credits: Anthony Tran - Unsplash}

Adriana van Dooijeweert

President, Netherlands Institute for Human Rights

Introduction

Just like everywhere in the world, also in the Netherlands violence against women is a widespread and serious problem. The Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (the Dutch national human rights institution) has had this issue on the agenda since its establishment. It has, for example, encouraged the Netherlands to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) and discussed with Dutch government officials and professionals, on various occasions, the human rights aspects of violence against women.

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