A Hong Kong courtroom upholds a ruling in favor of equal inheritance rights for same-sex {couples}

HONG KONG — A Hong Kong courtroom on Tuesday upheld a ruling that favored the granting of equal inheritance rights to same-sex {couples}, within the newest victory for the town’s LGBTQ+ group.

The choice by the Court docket of Enchantment rejected the federal government’s movement towards the ruling that stated the differential remedy dealing with same-sex married {couples} below two inheritance legal guidelines within the metropolis constitutes illegal discrimination.

“The differential remedy based mostly on sexual orientation is obvious,” Justice of Enchantment Peter Cheung wrote in his judgment.

At the moment, Hong Kong solely acknowledges same-sex marriage for sure functions corresponding to taxation, civil service advantages and dependent visas. Lots of the authorities’s concessions have been gained by way of authorized challenges lately as the town has seen a rising social acceptance of same-sex marriage.

The ruling is a victory for the town’s LGBTQ+ motion and is predicted to have a robust impression on the lives of same-sex {couples} from Hong Kong who married abroad.

Final week, the identical courtroom upheld two earlier rulings that supported the granting of sponsored housing advantages to same-sex married companions. In September, the town’s high courtroom dominated in a landmark choice that the federal government ought to present a framework for recognizing same-sex partnerships.

The ruling on Tuesday concerned a years-long battle fought by Henry Li and his late companion, Edgar Ng. After they married in London in 2017, Ng purchased a sponsored flat as his matrimonial house with Li. He was involved that if he died intestate, his proprieties wouldn’t be handed to Li. He handed away in 2020 after struggling years of melancholy.

Nongovernmental group Hong Kong Marriage Equality known as on the federal government to not attraction the judgment. With the current courtroom rulings, it’s clear that the precise factor to do is to acknowledge same-sex partnerships in a complete method, it stated.

In a press release issued by his solicitors, Li additionally stated he hopes the federal government will respect the judgment.

“It added insult to damage – that the federal government repeatedly argued in open courtroom I’m not Edgar’s husband and ought to be handled as a stranger to him, whereas I used to be nonetheless mourning,” he stated.