A legal scholar on Tuesday said the top court’s ruling, requiring the government to establish a framework to recognise same-sex relationships, is a big step forward for the LGBTQ community, even though it did not grant the right to marry.

The Court of Final Appeal ruled that the lack of any official recognition for same-sex partnerships discriminates against and demeans gay couples and is a violation of privacy under Article 14 of the Bill of Rights.

In its judgment, the court gave the government two years to fulfil its constitutional obligation.

Kelley Loper, an associate professor of the University of Hong Kong's Faculty of Law, said the top court’s ruling is very significant to the LGBTQ community in the SAR.

"We need to see some sort of relationship recognition procedures or schemes for same-sex couples that don't exist now. They will need to provide a greater range of rights for same-sex couples," she told RTHK.

Jerome Yau, a co-founder of Hong Kong Marriage Equality, said authorities can refer to the civil partnership scheme in the United Kingdom, which he said provides benefits and protections for same-sex couples comparable to those of marriage.

“When it comes to devising an alternative scheme, the best approach would be to provide maximum protections to same-sex couples. If we are going to see a very minimal scheme, I think that could open up the door for more litigation,” he said.

But DAB legislator Holden Chow urged the government to be extremely cautious, warning that “too many rights” for LGBTQ people would damage “traditional family values”.

He said allowing same-sex couples to adopt would be going too far, warning this would “seriously affect the entire society’s traditional family values and also the composition of the family.”

Chow said the administration should first launch a public consultation on the issue to ensure it strikes a balance between looking after the interests of the LGBTQ community and protecting family values.