Hong Kong  - A court ruling Monday set the stage for prison inmates to be able to vote in territory elections for the first time in Hong Kong's history.

Justice Andrew Cheung ruled that inmates have the constitutional right to register as voters and cast their ballots while serving sentences.

The case was brought by two men, Chan Kin-sum and Choi Chuen-sun, who are currently in jail, and legislator Leung Kwok-hung, who had previously served time for offences against public order.

Cheung gave the justice department and the electoral commission 14 days to work out how to implement his decision.

The government said it would study the judgment and consider the way forward. (dpa)