Hong Kong’s top court rules in favour of recognising same-sex partnerships

Hong Kong: Hong Kong’s top court ruled on Tuesday that the government should provide a framework for recognising same-sex partnerships in a landmark decision for the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

The ruling did not grant full marriage rights to same-sex couples but was a partial victory for prominent pro-democracy Jimmy Sham, who had fought a five-year legal battle over the recognition of same-sex marriage registered overseas.

Sham married his husband in New York in 2013, and argued that Hong Kong’s laws, which don’t recognise foreign same-sex marriage, violate the constitutional right to equality.

Equality advocates said the judgment was a step forward and will have strong implications for the lives of the LGBTQ+ community and the financial hub’s reputation as an inclusive place to stay and work.

Judges at the top court, by a majority, declared in a written ruling that the

government is in violation of its positive obligation to establish an alternative framework for legal recognition of same-sex partnerships, such as registered civil partnerships or civil unions.