9 Dec 1977
CHAN KWONG-MING v. THE QUEEN
- Citation
- CHAN KWONG-MING v. THE QUEEN
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Case number
- CACC1172/1977
A magistrate must ascertain the means of a defendant before imposing substantial fines and must observe statutory limits on imprisonment in default (Magistrates Ordinance s.68); where fines are imposed without such inquiry and the resulting imprisonment is manifestly excessive or beyond statutory limits, the appellate court will set the sentence aside — accordingly the appellant was absolutely discharged in this case.