CFI declares Housing Authority’s actual practice inconsistent with its own enforcement policy in judicial review

In Szeto Wing Leong v Hong Kong Housing Authority [2026] HKCFI 2033, the Court of First Instance ruled in favour of the Applicant in a judicial review concerning the implementation of the Marking Scheme for Estate Management Enforcement in Public Rental Housing Estates.

The case centered on whether the Housing Authority’s actual practice of requiring neighbourhood misdeeds to be “caught red-handed” was inconsistent with the written policies embodied in its own Operation Manual for the Marking Scheme. The Applicant, a public housing tenant, challenged the Housing Authority’s de facto refusal to consider and rely on video recording evidence provided by him when deciding whether to allot penalty points against his neighbours.

The underlying story was widely reported in a television infotainment show “Scoop”, which was mentioned in evidence and court hearing.

After a substantive hearing on 23 March 2026, Coleman J found that the Housing Authority had adopted an actual practice that was irrational and inconsistent with its own policies. The Court held that the Housing Authority had failed to properly consider relevant information, and that video recording evidence should be received and considered in the decision-making process.

This decision has important implications for public housing estate management and the rights of tenants to report neighbourhood misdeeds through video evidence. The Judge took counsel’s point that, in the different but related subject of reporting tenancy abuse, the Housing Authority has not only encouraged residents to report but has even implemented an award scheme for informants. However, in this subject area of combating misdeed, the Housing Authority does not show the same level of enthusiasm.

Plowman Chambers’ Lewis Law acts for the Applicant in this case, instructed by Liu, Chan & Lam and assigned by the Director of Legal Aid.

The full judgment can be viewed here: https://legalref.judiciary.hk/lrs/common/ju/newjudgments.jsp

See Lewis’s profile here: https://lnkd.in/gMWUeQrE