“Journalists may need judicial review to access land records under new rules”

Key points

• Hong Kong plans to require judicial review for journalists when access is refused.
• Authorities pledge faster processing of records, with one to two working days for public-interest cases.
• Public-interest is one of nine specified purposes for land record searches.
• Some records remain restricted to 15 types of people, including those with public-interest purposes.
• Media figures raised concerns about obstacles and lack of an appeal mechanism.