Masked rioters hurl petro bombs in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Photo: Xinhua

 Hong Kong's Court of Appeal lifted a mask ban on Tuesday by refusing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's request to suspend an earlier ruling by the High Court of HKSAR that found it "unconstitutional," in a move which solicitors said is unhelpful to end violence and chaos which has rocked the city for six months. 

The High Court ruled the anti-mask law enforced by the city government to quell months-long radical protests was "unconstitutional" on November 18, but the Court of Appeal set aside two days, January 9 and 10, for the appeal to be heard, Hong Kong media reported.

This means the anti-mask law has been lifted, but if the appeal succeeds in January, the law will be reinforced. "So before the appeal is heard, if the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) issues an interpretation of the Basic Law, this would be very helpful for the appeal," Kennedy Wong Ying-ho, a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

On November 19, after the High Court's ruling, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the NPC expressed deep concern over the ruling related to the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, saying that only the Standing Committee of the NPC can judge and decide whether Hong Kong laws are in line with the Basic Law.

Yang Guang, spokesperson of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, also said on November 19 that Hong Kong's High Court ruling on anti-mask law is not in line with the Basic Law, posing a blatant challenge to the authority of the Standing Committee of the NPC and the chief executive of HKSAR, which will lead to negative consequences in social and political aspects.

Lifting the mask ban is unhelpful for the HKSAR government and the police to stop violence and chaos in Hong Kong, despite the central government and national leaders have expressed their support to the government, the police and judicial bodies of HKSAR to work together to restore public order, Wong noted. 

"Unfortunately, the facts that we see show that judicial bodies are not very cooperative to some extent," Wong noted.

Acting High Court chief judge Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor and Court of Appeal vice-president Johnson Lam Man-hon on Tuesday said they were satisfied the government appeal was "reasonably arguable" but found that the authorities had failed to show a need to further suspend the lower court's declaration of unconstitutionality and refused the application, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

But the judges also warned their decision "is not and should not be regarded as an encouragement or condonation for any person to cover their face" in situations previously caught by the ban.

"We have in no way determined the appeals one way or the other," Poon wrote. "If one is to continue to wear masks ... in the meantime, he has to face the inherent risk of having acted contrary to the law should the [HKSAR government] later succeed on appeal."