WILTSHIRE TRADING LTD v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS

WILTSHIRE TRADING LTD v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS

The court found the presence and limited active participation of Italian investigators in some searches occurred but did not render the warrants invalid; assistance to identify relevance fell within s12(3)'s "necessary and reasonable" assistance and the warrants were not over‑broad simply because they lacked temporal limits; post‑seizure inspection by foreign officers under Hong Kong control to inform the Secretary for Justice's decision under s12(8) was permissible; consequential procedural errors (unauthorised copying, subsequent shredding of notes) were wrong but caused no remediable prejudice; the judicial review application was dismissed.

Citation
WILTSHIRE TRADING LTD v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS
Parties
1st Applicant (hcal16); 4th Applicant (hcal19): CHAN MEI YIU, PADDY; 2nd Applicant (hcal16); 1st Applicant (hcal19): HARMONY GOLD LIMITED; Applicant (hcal17): WILTSHIRE TRADING LIMITED; 1st Applicant (hcal18): HSU MAY CHUN, KATHERINE; 2nd Applicant (hcal19): CS SECRETARIES LIMITED; 3rd Applicant (hcal19): LOONG PO MANAGEMENT LIMITED; 1st Respondent: SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE; 2nd Respondent: COMMISSIONER OF POLICE; Detective Senior Inspector; 3rd Respondent: LEUNG KING HUNG; 4th Respondent: A MAGISTRATE SITTING AT EASTERN MAGISTRACY ON 16 JANUARY 2007
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
30 July 2010
Case Number
HCAL17/2007
Procedural Posture
Judicial Review / Judgment (decision on Merits)
Outcome
Application for judicial review dismissed
Legal Topics
Search Warrants, Mutual Legal Assistance (mlao), Foreign Investigators at Searches, Scope and Validity of Warrants, Seizure and Post Seizure Procedure, Legal Professional Privilege, Disclosure and Non‑disclosure in Ex Parte Applications
Source Language
EN
Constitutional Law Administrative Law Criminal Procedure Mutual Legal Assistance Evidence Law International Cooperation in Criminal Matters Search Warrants Mutual Legal Assistance (mlao) +5 more

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Parties

CHAN MEI YIU, PADDY

1st Applicant (hcal16); 4th Applicant (hcal19)

HARMONY GOLD LIMITED

2nd Applicant (hcal16); 1st Applicant (hcal19)

WILTSHIRE TRADING LIMITED

Applicant (hcal17)

HSU MAY CHUN, KATHERINE

1st Applicant (hcal18)

CS SECRETARIES LIMITED

2nd Applicant (hcal19)

LOONG PO MANAGEMENT LIMITED

3rd Applicant (hcal19)

SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE

1st Respondent

COMMISSIONER OF POLICE

2nd Respondent

LEUNG KING HUNG

Detective Senior Inspector; 3rd Respondent

A MAGISTRATE SITTING AT EASTERN MAGISTRACY ON 16 JANUARY 2007

4th Respondent

Procedural Posture

Judicial Review / Judgment (decision on Merits)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the Italian letter of request or information contained material misrepresentations or nondisclosures affecting issuance of warrants
  2. 2 Whether failure to disclose that Italian investigators would participate in searches invalidated warrants
  3. 3 Whether warrants required temporal limits on scope of documents to be seized

Ratio Decidendi

The court found the presence and limited active participation of Italian investigators in some searches occurred but did not render the warrants invalid; assistance to identify relevance fell within s12(3)'s "necessary and reasonable" assistance and the warrants were not over‑broad simply because they lacked temporal limits; post‑seizure inspection by foreign officers under Hong Kong control to inform the Secretary for Justice's decision under s12(8) was permissible; consequential procedural errors (unauthorised copying, subsequent shredding of notes) were wrong but caused no remediable prejudice; the judicial review application was dismissed.

Court Disposition

Application for judicial review dismissed

Orders

  • Application dismissed
  • Costs reserved