6 Feb 2025法庭線#4487
《頭條新聞》被指辱警違守則案 上訴庭拒批通訊局上訴許可 局方須付18萬元訟費
In 2020, the Communications Authority ruled that some episodes of RTHK’s ‘Headliner’ had insulted the police. The Hong Kong Journalists Association and an RTHK staff union sought a judicial review of the decision and partially succeeded in 2021. The Communications Authority, the RTHK staff union and the journalists’ association each appealed the parts of the judgment against them. The Court of Appeal earlier unanimously dismissed the Communications Authority’s appeal, while allowing the appeals by the union and the journalists’ association, and ordered the Communications Authority’s warning to be quashed.
Disagreeing with the decision, the Communications Authority applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. In a judgment issued on Thursday (the 6th), the Court of Appeal dismissed the application, saying one of the grounds of appeal amounted merely to an “academic discussion” and the other two did not involve points of law of great and general importance. The Communications Authority was ordered to pay HK$180,000 in costs.
通訊事務管理局 2020 年裁定港台《頭條新聞》有集數辱警，記協與港台工會提司法覆核挑戰決定，2021 年獲判部分勝訴。通訊局、港台工會與記協各就敗訴部分提上訴。上訴庭早前一致駁回通訊局上訴，工會、記協則上訴得直，上訴庭下令撤銷通訊局的警告。
通訊局不服決定，向上訴庭申請上訴至終審法院許可，上訴庭周四（6 日）頒判詞駁回申請，指其中一項上訴理據流於「學術討論」，另外兩項不涉重大而廣泛重要性的法律論點，通訊局須付 18 萬元訟費。
17 Oct 2024法庭線#4157
《頭條新聞》被指辱警違守則 港台工會上訴部分得直 通訊局向終院提上訴
In 2020, the Communications Authority ruled that the “無品芝麻官” and “驚方訊息” segments of RTHK’s Headliner defamed and insulted the police. The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the RTHK union brought a judicial review challenging the decision and partly won in the High Court in 2021. The Communications Authority, the RTHK union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association each appealed the parts of the judgment they lost. The Court of Appeal earlier unanimously dismissed the Communications Authority’s appeal and upheld the original ruling that the “無品芝麻官” segment did not breach the Television Programme Code. The union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association won their appeal concerning “驚方訊息”, and the Court of Appeal ordered the Communications Authority’s warning to be set aside.
The Communications Authority told The Witness that, after seeking the advice of its legal advisers, it had decided to appeal the Court of Appeal’s ruling to the Court of Final Appeal, and had applied to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal.
通訊事務管理局於 2020 年裁定港台《頭條新聞》內的「無品芝麻官」及「驚方訊息」環節，屬污衊、侮辱警方，記協與港台工會提司法覆核挑戰決定，2021 年獲高院裁定部分勝訴。通訊局、港台工會與記協各就敗訴部分提上訴。上訴庭早前一致駁回通訊局上訴，維持原審裁決，即「無品芝麻官」環節並無違反《電視節目守則》；工會、記協就「驚方訊息」提出的上訴，則獲判勝訴，上訴庭下令撤銷通訊局的警告。
通訊局回覆《法庭線》查詢，指徵詢法律顧問意見後，決定就上訴庭裁決，向終審法院提出上訴，已向上訴庭申請上訴許可。
5 Sept 2024集誌社#4026
頭條新聞｜工會歷 52 個月挑戰通訊局 《頭條》侮警等三指控獲平反 曾志豪：遲來的正義
An episode of RTHK’s Headliner broadcast in February 2020 was complained against for defaming and insulting the police. The Communications Authority ruled that the programme had breached the Television Programme Code (the “Code”) and issued a warning. The RTHK staff union and the Hong Kong Journalists Association, disagreeing with the decision, sought a judicial review. In 2021, the High Court’s Court of First Instance ruled that part of the review was successful but upheld the decision concerning the alleged insult to the police. Both sides subsequently appealed against the parts on which they had lost. In written reasons handed down by the Court of Appeal on Wednesday (the 4th), the court dismissed the Communications Authority’s appeal and, by a 2:1 majority, ruled that the complaint of insulting the police was not established. In other words, 52 months after the warning was issued, all complaints concerning Headliner had been ruled unsubstantiated, and the Court of Appeal ordered the Communications Authority to withdraw the warning.
港台節目《頭條新聞》2020 年 2 月一集節目，被投訴污衊和侮辱警方，通訊局裁定節目違反《電視節目守則》（下稱《守則》發出警告。港台工會及記協不服，提出司法覆核，高院原訟庭在 2021 年裁定部分覆核得直、但維持涉辱警決定。雙方其後再就敗訴部分上訴，上訴庭周三（4日）頒下書面判詞，駁回通訊局上訴，另以 2:1 裁定辱警投訴不成立。換言之，由被警告至今歷 52 個月，涉《頭條》的投訴全被裁不成立，上訴庭令通訊局撤銷警告。
4 Sept 2024法庭線#4022
《頭條新聞》被指辱警違守則 港台工會部分上訴得直 上訴庭下令撤銷通訊局警告
In 2020, the Communications Authority ruled that the “The Shameless Official” and “Frightening News” segments of RTHK’s Headliner defamed and insulted the police, and issued RTHK a warning. The programme was subsequently taken off the air. The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the RTHK Staff Union sought a judicial review of the decision and won partly in the High Court in 2021. The Communications Authority, the RTHK Staff Union and the Journalists Association subsequently appealed against the parts of the judgment they had lost.
In a judgment handed down on Wednesday (the 4th), the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed the Communications Authority’s appeal and upheld the original ruling that “The Shameless Official” did not breach the Television Programme Code. The Staff Union and Journalists Association’s appeal concerning “Frightening News” was allowed, and the Court of Appeal ordered the Communications Authority’s warning to be withdrawn.
On whether host Wong Hei’s appearance in “Frightening News”—wearing a police uniform, wrapped in a rubbish bag and emerging from a bin—constituted an insult to the police and breached the Code, the three judges expressed differing views. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung said that although satirical works should have greater freedom of expression, there remained “a threshold of propriety that even satirical works cannot cross”. The other two judges considered that if the content targeted the police’s anti-pandemic work, rather than merely their social standing, it should not be regarded as breaching the Code. The Staff Union’s appeal was ultimately allowed by a majority.
The Communications Authority said in response to enquiries that it would study the judgment with its legal advisers before deciding on its next steps. The Journalists Association said in a statement that it noted the court had overturned all of the Communications Authority’s rulings concerning the relevant episodes of Headliner, belatedly vindicating the RTHK production team. However, Headliner had already been taken off the air more than four years earlier, one month after the warning was issued. Regarding the ruling that the two organisations could not mount a constitutional challenge over an infringement of freedom of expression, the Journalists Association and the RTHK Staff Union said they respected the court’s decision and would not appeal the case to the Court of Final Appeal.
通訊事務管理局於 2020 年裁定港台《頭條新聞》內的「無品芝麻官」及「驚方訊息」環節，屬污衊、侮辱警方，並向港台發出警告，節目隨後停播。記協與港台工會提司法覆核挑戰決定，2021 年獲高院裁定部分勝訴。通訊局、港台工會與記協其後各就敗訴部分提上訴。
上訴庭周三（4 日）頒下判詞，一致駁回通訊局上訴，維持原審裁決，即「無品芝麻官」環節並無違反《電視節目守則》；工會、記協一方就「驚方訊息」提出的上訴，則獲判勝訴，上訴庭下令撤銷通訊局的警告。
就主持王喜在「驚方消息」中穿著警服、包著垃圾袋，從垃圾桶冒出，3 名法官對於是否構成辱警、違反《守則》各有意見。首席法官潘兆初認為，雖然諷刺作品在表達上應有更大自由度，但仍有「一條連諷刺作品都無法逾越的體統底線」。另外兩名法官則認為，若內容是針對警察的抗疫工作，非單純針對他們的社會地位，不應被視為違反《守則》，最終以大比數裁定工會一方上訴得直。
通訊局回覆查詢指，會與法律顧問研究判詞，再決定下一步行動。記協發聲明指，留意到通訊局就《頭條新聞》相關集數的裁決，已被法院全部推翻，還港台製作團隊遲來的公道，但《頭條新聞》於 4 年多前、收警告後一個月已停播。至於判決指兩間組織不能就言論自由受損作出違憲挑戰，記協與港台工會指尊重法庭裁決，不會將案件上訴至終審法院。
7 Sept 2023法庭線#8337
《頭條新聞》被指辱警 通訊局、工會均提上訴 上訴庭9個月內頒決定
In 2020, the Communications Authority ruled that some episodes of RTHK’s ‘Headliner’ denigrated and insulted the police, and issued RTHK a warning. The programme was subsequently taken off the air. The Hong Kong Journalists Association and an RTHK staff union sought judicial review of the decision and partially won their case in the High Court in 2021. The Communications Authority, the RTHK staff union and the Journalists Association subsequently all appealed, and the Court of Appeal heard the case on Wednesday (the 6th).
The Communications Authority argued that the lower court had erred in finding that it was responsible for investigating the accuracy of programme content when handling complaints. It said that ‘Headliner’ had linked doctors not having enough masks with the statement that ‘the police have plenty left over’, which amounted to denigrating and insulting police officers and caused the public to lose trust in the police force.
The union and the Journalists Association argued that the programme’s statement that foot patrols had been cancelled and officers no longer needed to ‘walk the beat’ was exaggerated, but had a factual basis in news reports and targeted the incident concerned rather than police officers as a group. After hearing submissions, the court reserved judgment to be delivered within nine months.
通訊事務管理局 2020 年裁定港台《頭條新聞》有集數污衊、侮辱警方，並向港台發出警告，節目隨後停播。記協與港台工會提司法覆核挑戰決定，2021 年獲高院裁定部分勝訴。通訊局、港台工會與記協其後均提上訴，上訴庭周三（6 日）審理。
通訊局一方認為，原審錯誤裁定局方在處理投訴時，有責任調查節目內容的真確性，而《頭條新聞》將醫生不夠口罩，與「衙差大把有得剩」連繫上，屬污衊及侮辱警員，引致市民不信任警隊。
工會、記協一方則指，節目中「取消徒步巡邏，唔使行咇」說法誇張，但有新聞報道的事實基礎，而且是針對有關事件，非警員群體。法庭聽取陳詞後，押後 9 個月內頒布判詞
22 Dec 2021立場新聞#1744
《頭條新聞》被指辱警 記協、港台工會司法覆核部分得直 通訊局提上訴
The Hong Kong Journalists Association and the RTHK Staff Union partly won a judicial review of the Communications Authority’s ruling that RTHK’s ‘Headliner’ denigrated the police. The authority has lodged an appeal.
就通訊事務管理局裁定港台《頭條新聞》污衊警方，記協與港台工會司法覆核部分得直，局方提出上訴。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
