The Court granted leave to challenge the decision to refuse a person in custody to receive a book containing Birth of Venus
Public Law
On 7 December 2023, the Honourable Mr Justice Coleman granted Leave to apply for Judicial Review (Form 86) on papers.
The challenge relates to a decision by the Commissioner of Correctional Services to refuse the Applicant, who is remanded in custody, to receive a book with the name “教養：關於歷史、文學、藝術、音樂、哲學與世界風俗文化，你必須知道的事”, a translation of a German book written by Dietrich Schwanitz with the name “Bildung: Alles was Man Wissen Muss” which is about history, literature, arts, music, philosophy and culture (the “Decision”). The Book was returned on the basis of nudity because it displays “The Birth of Venus”, a famous Renaissance painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli and was voted one of the ten most famous paintings in the World by CNN. Jeffrey Tam (together with Ernie Tung) acted for the Applicant in this case.
The judicial review aims to challenge the Decision on three grounds, that the Decision is in breach of the principle of legality and thus a misunderstanding of rule 56 of the Prison Rules, a disproportionate restriction to freedom of expression in receiving information in print and in any event a Wednesbury unreasonable decision.
The Decision on Leave Application can be found at the Judiciary Website.
Jeffrey Tam
“Jeffrey Tam of Denis Chang’s Chambers stands out in the opinion of several interviewees … he also operates a broad commercial practice, embracing, among other matters, shareholder and securities-related issues.” — Chambers & Partners Greater China Region 2022, Commercial Dispute Resolution: The Bar (Spotlight Table)
Jeffrey Tam, FHKIArb, attended St. Anne’s College at the University of Oxford for a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) on a scholarship after reading law at the City University of Hong Kong. He is also named as a “Leading Junior” for Administrative and Public Law in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2022-2024.
Visit Jeffrey’s profile for more details.
This article was first published on 7 December 2023.
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