Same-sex marriage in Hong Kong: the case for a constitutional right

Following a landmark ruling of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal, there is good reason to believe that a future challenge to legislation restricting marriage to opposite sex couples will be successful. Through the lens of W v. Registrar of Marriages, this article argues that the right to marry in Hong Kong is to be understood as an evolving concept and subject to a living interpretation by the courts. The government's argument that the courts should defer to the legislature's interpretation of the right to marry, in order to ascertain 'societal consensus', is challenged. Furthermore, it is argued that the government is unable to furnish good reasons to justify the restriction on the right of same-sex couples to marry. Throughout the article, both Hong Kong case law and relevant comparative jurisprudence inform the discussion.