Hong Kong’s high court has struck down an emergency ban on face masks that was being used by the police to stop and detain protesters attempting to conceal their identities.

The mask ban, rushed through by Carrie Lam’s government with colonial-era powers that hadn’t been used in decades, was deemed excessive in a ruling handed down on Monday.

Judges said the anti-mask law was unconstitutional, because it infringed on the fundamental rights of citizens more than was reasonably necessary to further its goals.

It represents a victory for protesters, who had largely defied the ban anyway since its imposition in early October, as hundreds battled for control of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus.