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The government yesterday said it would evict the protesters at the Queen's Pier despite the High Court's decision to grant leave to the judicial review filed by two conservationists.

In a statement released in late afternoon yesterday, a spokesman of the Development Bureau said the High Court's decision had nothing to do with the government's handing the pier over to the contractor.

The two moves are not in conflict with each other, he stressed.

The hoardings may be erected any moment after midnight, the spokesman said, urging protesters to leave the place before the eviction deadline, which was midnight last night.

Granting the leave for the judicial review to proceed, High Court judge Johnson Lam Man-hon said the case should be handled as early as possible as it involved high public concern.

He, however, said approving the application only meant that the case was superficially arguable, which did not indicate that the applicants had won the lawsuit.

The court would hear the case next Tuesday.

The demolition of the pier would have to be suspended should the court rule in favor of the applicants next Tuesday, said Local Action member Chu Hoi-dick and activist Ho Loy, who argued that former Secretary for Home Affairs Patrick Ho's decision in May of not declaring the pier as a historical monument was legally invalid. Dismantling of a historical monument is forbidden by law.

However, the applicants' barrister Hectar Pun dropped the application for injunction order as the court had sped up the handling process, meaning the government could still clear the site and start surveying work.

Pun argued that Ho's decision was not valid because he had said high threshold and doubtlessness were the criteria for historical monument declaration, which was not specified in the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. He also said Ho had not given sufficient weight to the opinions of Antiquities and Monuments Office and Antiquities Advisory Board, which classified the pier as a grade one historic building in May.

But he dropped the third argument written in the writ that Ho had failed to consult the board before making the decision after being questioned by Justice Lam that the ordinance vested Ho with the power, but not responsibility, to consult the board.

The demolition of the pier was to pave way for reclamation, which was required for road network. The demolition would be commenced 16 days after the site was handed over to the contractor.

Barrister representing the government, Benjamin Yu, demanded the court to combine the hearings of leave granting and the main proceeding, in which the court would decide whether to rule in favor of the applicants, as the case should be settled as early as possible because of its urgency. He cited the judicial review launched by Lo Siu-lan, who was against the Link REIT, as an example.

He said traffic around the pier was creating congestion and delay in the reclamation project would lead to compensation claims by the contractor, creating fiscal problem for the government.

He said granting the leave, and later hearing the case might give a wrong impression to the conservationists.

"They may think that they have won the first battle. This message might not be appropriate to the public," he said.

But Pun said the case was not that urgent as the government might still carry out works in the site other than demolition, saying the court should follow normal procedure to separate the leave granting hearing and the main proceeding.

"There are some members of the public thinking that we are making non-sense. If the case is arguable, we should let them know about it," he said.

Justice Ng decided to follow normal practice.

Chu said he was pleased with the court decision, but added that it was not related to whether the police would remove the conservationists from the pier at midnight, as per the eviction order posted by Lands Department.

"We will continue our action. But we urge the authority not to take any action until the result of the judicial review is out," he said.

Chan King-fai, one of the three conservationists on hunger strike, said he would continue his strike unless the government evicts them and put up the hoardings.

Protesters said they would put in every effort to protect the pier till the last moment. They formed human chains, and some of them decided to stay on the pier's rooftop, making it difficult for the police to remove them.

(HK Edition 08/01/2007 page6)