29/06/2026
#法學時
The Law Beyond the Turnstile — the MTR Bylaws
In October 2024, a Hong Kong commuter made headlines for a mundane but costly oversight, lingering too long in conversation at Tsing Yi Station and exceeding the MTR By-laws’ 150-minute time limit [1]. While the $66 penalty is minor, it illustrates the regulatory reach of the Mass Transit Railway By-laws (Cap. 556B), which is subsidiary legislation that governs everything that occurs within MTR stations and trains from escalator etiquette to what constitutes a ‘nuisance’ on railway premises. For the city‘s five million daily commuters, these by-laws are a constant, if often invisible, presence.
Perhaps the most contentious provision is By-law 25, which prohibits any person from conducting themselves ‘so as to cause a nuisance or annoyance to other passengers.’ [3] This is the proverbial ‘catch-all’ clause with which MTR officers regulate social discomfort. The case of Mtr Corporation Ltd v Chow Nok Hang [2] case provides a clear illustration of how the MTR utilises its by-laws and the extent of their power.
On 9 March 2016, Chow and other activists gathered in the paid area of Tai Wai Station to protest against the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, setting up a table, a banner, and a loudspeaker to broadcast their messages and collect signatures. An MTR official made three separate requests that they stop using the loudspeaker and leave the station, and upon refusal, Chow was subsequently charged under By-law 21(1), which requires every person on railway premises to comply with ‘all notices, indicators and all reasonable directions and requests of any official’ [3]. Chow was acquitted as the court held that the paid area was a ‘public place’ and that Chow was exercising his freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, which are constitutional rights enshrined under Article 27 of the Basic Law and Articles 16 and 17 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights. Crucially, the Magistrate ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove the directions were ”necessary and proportionate“ [§7 of note 2, The Deputy Magistrate’s Decision].