A Hong Kong civil servant, who was forced to retire after failing to take the government’s new loyalty oath on time, has seen his attempt to challenge the move rejected in court.
Wong Chau-ming, formerly employed with the Inland Revenue Department (IRD), saw his legal bid dismissed at the High Court on Thursday.
The 47-year-old’s leave to appeal application centred around the government ordering his retirement from his post as an assistant taxation officer in August 2021, after he failed to sign and return a government loyalty declaration that was made mandatory following the national security law’s enactment.
In an English judgement, Judge Russell Coleman wrote that Wong had “ample time of four weeks” from when he was first notified about the oath-taking requirement, and yet he only made enquiries on the day of the deadline.
Wong was also aware of the “potential and serious consequences of any failure” to return the signed declaration by the deadline, Coleman added.
“… [T]here is an illogicality in the idea that the Applicant had been engaging in genuine enquiries, or that there had been merely miscommunication or misinterpretation,” Coleman wrote.
According to the judgement, Wong was informed about the oath requirement via a letter from the Civil Service Bureau in January 2021.
On the morning of the deadline about a month later, Wong returned the form but did not complete it, handwriting – instead – a number of comments questioning the necessity and urgency of signing the declaration, as well as how violations could be defined.
The IRD replied the same day giving examples of what constitutes breaches, adding that if the declaration was not received, the government could “initiate action to terminate [his] service.”
Wong exchanged a number of letters with the IRD and Civil Service Bureau (CSB) over the next few months, in which he said there were still “uncertainties” in the declaration and that his concerns had not been addressed.
He was first told by the IRD in April that he was “interdicted from duty” with effect from the next day. In response, Wong replied that he felt regret, and that the decision was unfair.
In May, the CSB told Wong it was considering “requiring” him to retire “in the public interest,” before the decision was made final in August.
Oath-taking requirement
Hong Kong announced in November 2020 that all civil servants would have to declare allegiance to the city as part of a new oath-taking requirement for employees.
Contract staff working for the government, but who were not employed on civil service terms, were also required to sign the declaration, the government said in May 2021. Foreigners working for the Education Bureau would also be required to sign.
The oath involves a promise to uphold the city’s Basic Law, bear allegiance to Hong Kong, and “be dedicated to… duties and be responsible” to the Hong Kong government.
Almost 130 civil servants who “neglected or refused to duly sign and return the declaration without reasonable explanation” left their jobs, according to figures revealed in the Legislative Council in June 2022. A total of 535 other government workers also quit or were let go.
According to the judgement, Wong had been working at the IRD since 1996. He was ordered to pay the legal costs of the judicial reviews.
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