Hong Kong court upholds limits on journalists’ instant access to car registry

The Hong Kong Journalists Association has lost its judicial challenge against the government’s decision to deny reporters instant access to its vehicle registry, despite a ruling by the city’s top court that journalism is a valid reason for use.The High Court on Friday ruled against the press union over the policy introduced in early 2024, following the Court of Final Appeal’s decision that a freelance producer was entitled to access Transport Department records while making a documentary critical of police action during the 2019 anti-government protests.Mr Justice Russell Coleman acknowledged that the case was of public importance and had a significant impact on the use of vehicle particulars for bona fide investigative journalism.He found, however, that the policy was not unlawful and that authorities’ handling of media applications was not so unreasonable as to amount to a public law error.In June 2023, the city’s top court cleared veteran journalist Bao Choy Yuk-ling of making false statements in connection with her use of the vehicle registration database.She had selected “other traffic and transport-related matters” as the purpose of her searches, as journalism was not among the options listed on the online application form. She was fined HK$6,000 (US$767) in April 2021, after a trial.