The government earlier required civil servants to sign a declaration to support the Basic Law and allegiance to the SAR.
An assistant tax officer of the tax bureau claimed to ask the tax bureau whether it is necessary to sign a declaration and how to define a breach declaration.
The Assistant Tax Officer later submitted a signed statement, and the Civil Service Bureau finally ordered him to retire out of public interest.
The Assistant Tax Officer believed that the decision to retire him was unreasonable and improper, and yesterday (29th) applied to the High Court for judicial review to overturn the decision of the Civil Service Bureau.
The applicant was Wang Qiuming, and the respondent was the Director of the Civil Service Bureau.
Worked in the tax bureau for more than 25 years
The applicant disclosed in the application written by him that he had worked in the tax bureau for more than 25 years and was an assistant tax officer before retiring.
In January this year, the Civil Service Bureau required all civil servants who entered employment before July 1, 2020 to show their support for the Basic Law and allegiance to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
At the end of January this year, the tax bureau required the applicant to submit a signed declaration.
A signed declaration has been submitted and is still being ordered to retire
Wang wrote to the tax bureau in February this month asking whether a statement must be signed and how to define a breach statement.
The Civil Service Bureau wrote to the applicant in August this year, stating that it would forward Wang’s case to the Secretary of the Civil Service Bureau to decide whether to retire the applicant.
Wang then added a statement and submitted the signed statement.
However, the Civil Service Bureau ordered Wang to retire on the grounds of public interest on August 30 this year.
The effective date of Wang's retirement is October 25 this year.
Not giving enough justification
Wang claimed that he had submitted the signed statement and there was no reason not to accept it, and his decision to retire was unreasonable.
In addition, the Civil Service Bureau did not give sufficient grounds for retiring him, so the decision was also procedurally improper.
Case number: HCAL1626/2021
Oath of civil servants | 16 civil servants from the disciplined services of more than 650 civil servants who refused to sign the declaration | Nie Dequan: 129 civil servants refused to sign the declaration and about 70 of them have left the civil service oath | Government contract employees must sign a declaration of allegiance within 3 weeks to refuse to sign or terminate the employment of civil servants Oath｜Nie Dequan: Over 100 civil servants who refuse to swear will activate the mechanism to request resignation
