Latest news with #legal challenge
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong authorities may appeal court ruling on opposite-sex public toilet use
Hong Kong authorities have said they will consider appealing against the court's decision to uphold a transgender man's legal challenge against a ban on people using some public toilets designated for the opposite sex. Advertisement A spokesman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said on Tuesday that the government was studying the judgment handed down the day before and seeking legal opinions, while considering mounting an appeal. 'The establishment of sex-segregated public toilets under the Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulation aims to protect the privacy and safety of the public when using public toilets, and to reflect social norms and expectations,' the spokesman said. 'This arrangement has been widely accepted by society.' The bureau also reminded residents that they must continue to use public toilets based on the principle of segregation of the sexes at present to avoid running afoul of the law. Advertisement At the centre of contention was the landmark ruling handed down by the High Court that upheld an anonymous litigant's claim that the government violated its constitutional duty to safeguard residents' fundamental rights by criminalising the misuse of public restrooms managed by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department at the expense of the transgender community. The Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulation, which governs the use of public lavatories managed by the department, bars anyone aged five or above from such facilities allocated to their opposite sex. Offenders can face a fine of up to HK$2,000 (US$255).
ABC News
6 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Mount Pleasant coal mine expansion halted after community legal challenge
A Hunter Valley community group has won a legal challenge to bring one of the largest coal mine expansions in New South Wales to a halt. In 2022 the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) approved MACH Energy's application to extend the life of its Mount Pleasant coal mine to 2048 and increase its output. The Denman Aberdeen Muswellbrook Scone Healthy Environment Group (DAMSHEG) appealed the approval in the Supreme Court, arguing that the impacts of the project on the environment and climate were not properly considered by the IPC. The NSW Court of Appeal sided with the group on Thursday morning. DAMSHEG president Wendy Wales said it was a "landmark case". "We're just over the moon," she said. The group had requested a judicial review of the approval but that was denied by the Land and Environment Court. The Court of Appeal ruling has rendered the IPC's approval invalid. It will be subject to a review in the Land and Environment Court. The proposed expansion would allow the company to mine an additional 247 million tonnes of coal by 2048. In court DAMSHEG argued that the impact of scope 3 emissions — those created from the burning of exported coal — was not adequately considered. Justice JulieWard ruled there was "nothing" in the IPC's reasoning that showed it had accepted the scope 3 emissions would contribute to global climate change. "Thus, I consider that it has been established that the commission failed to consider a mandatory consideration in this regard," she said. Ms Wales said she wanted the region to move away from reliance on fossil fuels. "We would like to see that Mount Pleasant doesn't go through till 2048, doubling its rate of production," she said. The judge ordered MACH Energy to pay the costs incurred by DAMSHEG for the appeal. The ABC has contacted MACH Energy for comment. The case will now proceed to the Land and Environment Court for a decision on whether the expansion approval should be reversed. The mine employs more than 400 people in the Upper Hunter region and was previously approved to mine until the end of 2026. Ms Wales says bringing new jobs to the Muswellbrook region needs to be the priority. "We need to be working at how we do that and it takes all the collective brains to work towards that," she said. "[Muswellbrook Shire] Council has been calling for much more investment in and attention to how we're going to look after the workers and the rehab of our area."
Reuters
7 days ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Hong Kong court backs transgender person's right to use toilets that match chosen gender identity
HONG KONG, July 23 (Reuters) - A Hong Kong court ruled on Wednesday in favour of a transgender person who challenged laws that criminalise them for going into public toilets that align with their chosen gender identity. Judge Russell Coleman struck down the two provisions that made it criminal to do so but suspended the ruling for 12 months to let the government "consider whether it wishes to implement a way to deal with the contravention". The Environment and Ecology Bureau said in an email response to Reuters that the government will carefully study the judgment and consult the Department of Justice on the appropriate follow-up action. "This is a matter of the line-drawing, which seems to me to be a question for the government or legislature to address," Coleman wrote in his judgment. He also said the question of where to draw the line between a "female person" and a "male person" is "an answer not appropriately given by the courts, and is more appropriately a matter for legislation". The legal challenge was launched by a transgender man, who identifies as K, born as a female and identifies as a man, and who sought to amend the Public Conveniences (Conduct and Behaviour) Regulations to allow individuals undergoing Real Life Experience (RLE) treatment under medical supervision to use public toilets that align with their gender identity. This is the latest ruling from the city's judiciary in recent years that recognises the rights of transgender people. The city's Court of Final Appeal in February 2023 unanimously sided with appeals launched by transgender activists that barred transgender people from changing their gender on their mandatory ID cards unless they undergo full sex reassignment surgery, saying it violated their rights. The Hong Kong government last April revised the policy and allowed transgender people who have not completed full sex reassignment surgery to change gender on their ID cards.
Reuters
10-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
US judge won't block 23andMe bankruptcy sale to co-founder
July 10 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Thursday declined to block the bankruptcy sale of genetic testing company 23andMe to its co-founder Anne Wojcicki pending the outcome of a legal challenge by California. U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp in St. Louis, Missouri, during a hearing said he would not pause the $305 million sale while he reviews the state's bid for a declaration that 23andMe cannot sell California customers' genetic data without their consent. A bankruptcy judge rejected those claims on Monday, and California had appealed that ruling to Schelp, who on Tuesday had briefly paused the sale ahead of Thursday's hearing. 23andMe, which filed for bankruptcy in March, is selling its assets to TTAM Research, a new nonprofit founded by Wojcicki. Schelp during the hearing said it was reasonable for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh to conclude that California customers would not be harmed because they can opt to delete their accounts and genetic information. 'A stay pending appeal threatens to derail the TTAM sale altogether, and creditors and shareholders would likely suffer,' the judge said. Schelp extended the temporary stay until 11:59 p.m. on Friday to give California time to seek a stay from the St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. 23andMe, TTAM and the office of California Attorney General Rob Bonta did not immediately respond to requests for comment. California argues the sale violates the state's Genetic Information Privacy Act, which prohibits the transfer and disclosure of genetic data or biological samples to third parties without express permission for each transfer. The state had sought to prevent California customers' data from being transferred, a step that 23andMe said would effectively kill the sale. California consumers represent about 1.8 million of the approximately 10 million genetic profiles in 23andMe's inventory, according to court filings. Walsh, the bankruptcy judge, on Monday overruled California's objections. Other states had also made similar objections to the sale. On Thursday, Bernard Eskandari of the California Attorney General's office told Schelp that the state would have investigated and brought an enforcement action against a company that sold genetic information without consent outside of bankruptcy. And 23andMe customers cannot now be stripped of those protections, he said. 'Bankruptcy is not a hall pass to evade state law,' he said. But Jeff Recher, a lawyer for the company, countered that California's genetic privacy law only regulates the transfer of data and not the sale of equity. 'This is not a transfer of genetic information, it's a sale of an ownership interest," he said. Schelp at the end of the hearing agreed the state law does not apply to sales of ownership and said that California likely lacked standing to challenge the sale. TTAM has said it would continue to protect customers' genetic data and maintain 23andMe's privacy policies, including customers' right to delete their data. Wojcicki was 23andMe's CEO before its bankruptcy filing, and her new nonprofit's name is an acronym formed from the first letters of the words 'twenty-three and me.' TTAM won a bankruptcy auction for 23andMe's assets in June, outbidding a $265 million offer from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN.O). 23andMe filed for bankruptcy after a drop-off in consumer demand and a 2023 data breach that exposed millions of customers' genetic data. The case is California v. 23andMe Holding Co., U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, No. 25-cv-00999. For California: Bernard Eskandari and Daniel Nadal of the Office of the Attorney General of California For 23andMe: Jeff Recher, Chris Hopkins and Paul Basta of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison For TTAM: Joe Larkin of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom Read more: Judge briefly pauses 23andMe bankruptcy sale amid California's appeal California fails to stop 23andMe founder from re-acquiring company 23andMe's founder Anne Wojcicki wins bid for bankrupt DNA testing firm DNA testing firm 23andMe files for bankruptcy as demand dries up
