RE FONG CHI MING

RE FONG CHI MING

The court held that the coroner's jury verdict must be quashed because (1) there was insufficient evidence before the jury to be sure that the applicant (Fong) had caused the deceased's death, and (2) the Coroner's summing-up contained serious misdirections and non-directions of law—notably failing to instruct the jury that they must be sure (beyond reasonable doubt when appropriate) before naming any person other than the principal suspect and failing to direct that if not so sure they should return homicide by person unknown—thereby rendering the verdict unsafe and amenable to quashing on judicial review.

Citation
RE FONG CHI MING
Parties
Applicant (senior Immigration Assistant): Fong Chi-ming; Respondent (coroner): H.M. Sinclair (Her Majesty's Coroner); Deceased: Yeung Tat-fung; Named Suspect at Inquest: Tsang Hing-wan (also referred to as Chang)
Court
Court of First Instance
Jurisdiction
Hong Kong
Judgment Date
16 November 1987
Case Number
HCMP1589/1987
Procedural Posture
Judicial Review of Coroner's Inquest / Judgment (application Granted; Verdict Quashed)
Outcome
Application granted; jury verdict quashed; costs awarded to applicant
Legal Topics
Sufficiency of Evidence, Misdirection in Summing Up, Natural Justice, Hearsay and Admissibility, Duties of Counsel at Inquests
Source Language
EN
Judicial Review Coroners' Inquests Criminal Law Administrative Law Evidence Law Sufficiency of Evidence Misdirection in Summing Up Natural Justice +2 more

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Parties

Fong Chi-ming

Applicant (senior Immigration Assistant)

H.M. Sinclair (Her Majesty's Coroner)

Respondent (coroner)

Yeung Tat-fung

Deceased

Tsang Hing-wan (also referred to as Chang)

Named Suspect at Inquest

Procedural Posture

Judicial Review of Coroner's Inquest / Judgment (application Granted; Verdict Quashed)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the jury's verdict was supported by sufficient evidence to name the applicant as responsible for death
  2. 2 Whether the Coroner's summing-up contained misdirections or omissions of law requiring quashing of the verdict
  3. 3 Whether a coroner's jury verdict is amenable to judicial review

Ratio Decidendi

The court held that the coroner's jury verdict must be quashed because (1) there was insufficient evidence before the jury to be sure that the applicant (Fong) had caused the deceased's death, and (2) the Coroner's summing-up contained serious misdirections and non-directions of law—notably failing to instruct the jury that they must be sure (beyond reasonable doubt when appropriate) before naming any person other than the principal suspect and failing to direct that if not so sure they should return homicide by person unknown—thereby rendering the verdict unsafe and amenable to quashing on judicial review.

Court Disposition

Application granted; jury verdict quashed; costs awarded to applicant

Orders

  • Jury verdict dated 30 June 1987 quashed
  • Application for judicial review granted