On December 19, the Court of Appeal of the High Court granted leave for the Secretary for Justice to rely on additional grounds in his appeal against the Court of First Instance's refusal of an interim injunction in relation to a song.

     A copy of the said Order has been uploaded today (December 22) to the websites of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the Department of Justice and the Hong Kong Police Force. Members of the public may access the following websites or scan the QR code (attached) to download the relevant documents:

．www.gov.hk/en/theme/courtorder/index5.htm
．www.doj.gov.hk/en/miscellaneous/hca855.html
．www.police.gov.hk/ppp_en/03_police_message/hca855.html

     The Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB), in partnership with the United Nations Volunteers, the Agency for Volunteer Service (AVS), the Hong Kong Volunteers Association and the Peace and Development Foundation, today (December 22) launched a new round of the United Nations Volunteers – Hong Kong Universities Volunteer Internship Programme. Local undergraduate students are welcome to apply.
 
     The Government attaches great importance to youth development. The HYAB promulgated the Youth Development Blueprint at the end of 2022. It states that the Government will further strengthen the breadth and depth of the Mainland and international internship and exchange programmes with a view to enhancing young people's understanding of the development of the country and the world. The Programme provides local undergraduate students with valuable opportunities to undertake six-month volunteer internships in the overseas field units of various United Nations (UN) agencies. The interns will be able to develop their personal capabilities and expand their horizons, as well as contribute to the international community in the capacity of Chinese youth volunteers. A total of 23 university students participated in two rounds of the Programme in 2023 and undertook internships in various UN agencies located in Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal and Thailand, including the World Food Programme, UN Children's Fund and UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, etc. They made contributions to different international affairs and were greatly rewarded from the experience. 
     
     The new round of the Programme will be expanded to cover more countries along the Belt and Road region, offering a total of 25 internship placements in different UN agencies located in Armenia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, etc. The volunteer internships will cover areas such as health and education, environment and innovation management and will run from July to December 2024. Applicants should be full-time undergraduate students of local universities. The HYAB will provide round-trip air tickets and monthly living allowances, etc, and offer suitable pre-departure training for participants in collaboration with the AVS.
 
     Details of the Programme are available at the designated webpage (www.avs.org.hk/eng/UNV). Interested young people should submit applications on or before January 25, 2024.

     â€‹The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) announced today (December 22) that Chung Ying Street Garden in North District will be officially open for public use starting from January 1 next year, providing a pleasant leisure space for public enjoyment. 

     Occupying an area of 1 300 square metres, the garden situated in front of the Chung Ying Street Checkpoint of the Sha Tau Kok is newly built by the LCSD for the Second Phase Opening-up of Sha Tau Kok. The facilities include pleasant landscaped sitting-out areas, leisure facilities and drinking fountains. Visitors may also overlook Chung Ying Street at the viewing deck and take pictures with the replica of an old railway station in Hong Kong as well as the model actual-size locomotive in the garden. 

     Visitors to Chung Ying Street Garden are required to apply for a Closed Area Permit (CAP). Both Hong Kong residents or visitors to Hong Kong can log onto the Hong Kong Police Force Online Applications Platform (www.es.police.gov.hk) to apply for a free electronic Tourism CAP on a first-come, first-served basis for visiting Sha Tau Kok from 7am to 9pm on the date they have applied for. The application process takes three working days. 

     Visitors are reminded that access of private vehicles to Sha Tau Kok is not allowed. They can only take the following public transport to the location.  
(1) Bus route Nos. 78S (express) or 78K at MTR Sheung Shui Station or Fanling Station and get off at the terminal;
(2) Minibus route No. 55K at MTR Sheung Shui Station and get off at the terminal; or
(3) Bus route No. 277A at MTR Lam Tin Station and get off at the terminal.

      

The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

     The Judiciary today (December 22) announced that it will launch a trial run of live broadcasting of court proceedings through video webcasting next month (January) on two appellate proceedings in the Court of Final Appeal (CFA) for testing the technical feasibility of the live broadcast arrangements. 

     Open justice is a key to maintaining public confidence in the judicial system and upholding the rule of law. To enhance the transparency of court procedures and public confidence in the judicial process, the Judiciary has been actively exploring the initiative of live broadcasting of selected judicial proceedings outside court premises. 

     The Judiciary is mindful that not all proceedings are appropriate for live broadcasting. Appellate proceedings, particularly hearings in the CFA, are considered to be more suitable cases for live broadcasting. 

     Having regard to a host of factors seeking to ensure that the administration of justice will not be unduly compromised, including the need to take account of parties' views and to prevent possible misuse of broadcast materials, the Judiciary is planning to start with a trial run of live broadcasting of two appeal hearings in the CFA. The primary objective of the trial run is to test the technical feasibility of the arrangements, including the information technology and audio-visual setup, as well as the logistical and operational details before, during and after the hearings.

     The Judiciary has identified two CFA cases to be heard respectively on January 10 and 16 next year for the trial run, to test two different screen layouts of fixed grids' view. Major details are as follows:
 

• Members of the public can view the live webcast of the two selected CFA cases on the CFA website via desktop computers or mobile devices installed with common browsers.

• The core written materials will be made available on the CFA website before the hearings. Relevant information of the live webcast will be provided nearer the time of the court proceedings on the websites of the CFA and the Judiciary.

• After the live webcast ends, the videos of the court proceedings will be uploaded to and kept on the CFA website for a short duration to allow easy access and flexible viewing. The two trial broadcasts of CFA hearings will respectively be made available for viewing for two and three calendar days after the hearing date.

• Members of the public, including the media, must not record the live webcast or use the live broadcast footage for any purpose. Measures such as digital rights management commonly found on streaming platforms will be put in place to deter unauthorised recording, screen capturing and illegal distribution of the live broadcast footage. Any person who records, edits or re-broadcasts the live broadcast footage without prior permission of the Court is liable for contempt of court or copyright infringement. Warnings will be shown on the CFA website and on-screen runner during the live webcast.

     Taking into account the technical feasibility assessment, court users' feedback, and operational experience from the trial run, the Judiciary will conduct a review and consider the way forward for live broadcasting of court proceedings outside court premises in the longer term.

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson today (December 22) announced that the HA has activated service demand surge special measures to cope with the increasing service demand due to cold weather and the Christmas long holiday. The HA anticipates that the service demand in public hospitals will continue to rise in the coming weeks. The HA will closely monitor various statistics and the situation.
 
     The HA spokesperson said, "Public hospitals have implemented a series of measures, including increasing manpower, opening temporary beds and mobilising hospital beds flexibly to cope with the increasing service demand for accident and emergency (A&E) departments and inpatient services to enhance laboratory services for influenza and COVID-19 tests. Ward rounds of senior clinicians will also be increased in the evenings, weekends and holidays. The HA will also facilitate patient admissions, transfers and discharges so as to provide timely and appropriate treatment for patients and vacate hospital beds to admit patients as far as practicable."
 
     The weather has been cold in recent days and increased activity in influenza and some respiratory pathogens such as COVID-19 is observed. The general out-patient clinic (GOPC) service has been enhanced in order to cope with increasing service needs from members of the public and to alleviate the service pressure on A&E departments during long holiday. A total of 18 GOPCs (see table below) will provide public holiday GOPC services during the Christmas holidays. Patients may book an appointment either through the telephone appointment system or the "Book GOPC" function of the "HA Go" mobile app.
 
     The spokesperson urges non-urgent patients to avoid attending A&E departments. They are advised to attend GOPCs, private doctors or the 24-hour clinics of private hospitals as far as practicable. To choose a suitable family doctor and related clinic service, members of the public can browse the Primary Care Directory of the Health Bureau (www.pcdirectory.gov.hk).
 
     Meanwhile, the HA also appeals to members of the public to get vaccinated early for seasonal influenza and COVID-19, especially high-risk groups, to reduce the chance of getting infected for themselves and their family members, as well as to reduce critical cases and deaths. Members of the public may find details on the Centre for Health Protection COVID-19 Vaccination Programme website (www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/106934.html) and the Vaccination Schemes website (www.chp.gov.hk/en/features/17980.html).
 
     The HA will closely monitor the situation and flexibly deploy resources and manpower when necessary, and will keep increasing its service volume in order to provide appropriate services for patients.

     GOPC services arrangements for the Christmas holidays (December 25 and 26):
 

* Will provide clinic services on December 25.
# Will provide clinic services on December 26.
 
Service hours: 9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm