Hong Kong’s top court rules in favour of legal recognition for same-sex couples

The court has given the government two years to establish a system for legally recognising same-sex couples. Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

Hong Kong must provide an alternative to marriage in order to legally recognise the rights of same-sex couples, the city’s highest court has declared, opening the way for civil unions.

However, it rejected appeals against current laws that restrict marriage to heterosexual couples and refuse to recognise overseas same-sex marriages, despite majority support among the population.