Court rejects appeal of former trustees of 612 Fund

The Court of Appeal on Thursday rejects the appeal of five former trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The trustees were convicted of breaching the Societies Ordinance in 2022. They were fined 4,000 dollars each.

The five appellants are Cardinal Joseph Zen, former legislator Cyd Ho, singer Denise Ho, barrister Margaret Ng and scholar Hui Po-keung.

In November 2022, the court found the group guilty of failing to apply for registration or exemption from registration of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund within a specified period. This despite the defence arguing that the fund was not a society under the law but a public charitable trust. It pointed out that the fund lacked a formal organisational structure, mutual rights or obligations between members.

The five trustees later challenged the decision to the Court of Appeal, and a three-judge panel on Thursday sided with a lower court and dismissed the appeal.

The court says the fund was a society under the Societies Ordinance. Because the fund was formed by the appellants for the "common purposes and objects" as stated in the Trust Deed. It states "a broad governing structure" existed under the Trust Deed, which the appellants "made decisions and gave instructions regarding its affairs," including "how donations were to be distributed."

The court also says evidence shows that all appellants were office-bearers of the fund as a society. And the fund, set up on 28 June, 2019, had not applied for registration or exemption from registration under the ordinance within the one-month establishment time frame.

Speaking to the media after the verdict, Margaret Ng says they will file an appeal to the Court of Final Appeal. She says the judgement is not just about the fund, but it affects all of Hong Kong.