This archive report was first published on 17 November 2019.
On November 12, 2019, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) campus was the site of intense clashes between protesters and police. The university's vice chancellor, Prof. Rocky Tuan, was among those tear-gassed as he attempted to defuse the situation.
According to eyewitnesses, protesters had occupied a public footbridge over a major highway, throwing bricks and petrol bombs and blocking traffic. However, the police response was widely criticized as disproportionate.
CUHK student union president Jacky So Tsun-fung applied for an urgent injunction to stop the police from breaching the campus without a warrant and to bar the use of crowd-control weapons without the assent of university authorities. However, the judge declined to hear the application that night, citing the need to notify the police.
So's application was ultimately dismissed, with the judge citing the need to hold the police accountable for any abuse of power. However, the Hong Kong courts have been criticized for their handling of protests, with some arguing that they have failed to hold authorities accountable for abuses of power.
One notable example is a broad and vague injunction granted to the police last month, which barred anyone from disclosing the personal information of police officers or their relatives. The court's decision has been criticized as unnecessary and overly broad.
