On 6 March 2025, in a rare and significant legal victory, three core members of the now-disbanded HK Alliance, including former vice-chairperson Chow Hang-tung, had their convictions overturned by the Court of Final Appeal. The trio had been convicted under the National Security Law for refusing to comply with police orders to submit organizational documents in 2021. This marked the first time that a case under the National Security Law (NSL) is successful on appeal. The court ruled that the prosecution’s actions had deprived the defendants of a fair trial, ultimately leading to the reversal of their convictions. This ruling is notable, given the low rate of successful appeals in NSL-related cases, highlighting the challenges to securing justice in such politically sensitive cases.
This event is clearly an outlier in the broader pattern of national security-related legal proceedings in Hong Kong. While most NSL-related cases have ended in convictions—often after appeals to higher courts—the successful overturning of convictions in this case is highly unusual. Historically, the government has been successful in prosecuting under the NSL, with few instances where defendants have been able to successfully challenge their charges. The rarity of such wins reflects both the political climate surrounding national security legislation and the increasing difficulty of securing justice in politically sensitive cases.