香港特別行政區 訴 蔡玉玲

香港特別行政區 訴 蔡玉玲

Regulation 4(2) must be read in light of the Road Traffic Ordinance's purposes and privacy considerations; the applicant's declared purpose on the application form was a material 'requirement' capable of affecting the Director's decision, the applicant objectively did not have a traffic/transport-related purpose,...

Source-derived case information.

Citation
[2022] HKCFI 3343
Parties
Respondent: 香港特別行政區 (HKSAR); Appellant: 蔡玉玲 (appellant)
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
7 November 2022
Case Number
HCMA236/2021
Procedural Posture
Criminal Conviction Appeal / Appeal Against Conviction to High Court (court of First Instance); Hearing 29 Aug 2022; Judgment 7 Nov 2022
Outcome
Appeal dismissed; convictions and sentences affirmed
Legal Topics
False Statement Offence S111 Road Traffic Ordinance, Vehicle Registration Records Access, Interpretation of 'shall' in Regulations, Proportionality and Privacy Balancing, Journalistic Access to Personal Data
Source Language
ct
Criminal Law Statutory Interpretation Administrative Law Privacy Law Transport Law False Statement Offence S111 Road Traffic Ordinance Vehicle Registration Records Access Interpretation of 'shall' in Regulations +2 more

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Parties

香港特別行政區 (HKSAR)

Respondent

蔡玉玲 (appellant)

Appellant

Procedural Posture

Criminal Conviction Appeal / Appeal Against Conviction to High Court (court of First Instance); Hearing 29 Aug 2022; Judgment 7 Nov 2022

  1. 1 Whether the applicant made a false statement in a material particular (a 'requirement' on the form)
  2. 2 Whether the stated purpose for requesting vehicle registration details was a 'requirement' (an item likely to affect the decision)
  3. 3 Whether the applicant knew the statement was false

Ratio Decidendi

Regulation 4(2) must be read in light of the Road Traffic Ordinance's purposes and privacy considerations; the applicant's declared purpose on the application form was a material 'requirement' capable of affecting the Director's decision, the applicant objectively did not have a traffic/transport-related purpose, and she knew the declaration was false; 'shall' in Reg 4(2) is not an absolute mandatory duty in circumstances where supplying the data would be incompatible with statutory purpose and proportionality; therefore convictions for making false statements were correctly upheld.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed; convictions and sentences affirmed

Orders

  • Appeal dismissed; convictions for two counts under s111(3) Road Traffic Ordinance upheld
  • Original magistrates' fines of HKD 3,000 on each count affirmed