Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Discharge of jury

Legal area

Court

18 Jun 2021

HKSAR v. CHEN KEEN (alias JACK CHEN) AND OTHERS

Citation

[2021] HKCFI 1751
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCCC309/2019

The witness inadvertently informed the jury that the accused had been convicted and were subject to a retrial; that revelation conveyed to jurors that a previous jury had found guilt on substantially the same facts and was inherently highly prejudicial; after careful assessment the prejudice could not be remedied by any judicial direction having regard to the content, context and stage of trial (Day 57); therefore the jury must be discharged to secure a fair trial for all three accused.
9 Feb 2018

香港特別行政區訴嚴文浩

Citation

[2018] HKCA 72
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC310/2016

The trial judge's failure to discharge the jury after prejudicial disclosure of an absent witness's account and the omission to give the required two‑part direction on the alleged offer to buy silence (post‑offence conduct) amounted to a material irregularity that rendered the convictions unsafe; the appeal must be allowed and the convictions quashed.
22 Nov 1994

NG HA v. R.

Citation

NG HA v. R.
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC112/1993

The jury, having been properly directed and having rejected allegations of police prompting, were entitled to accept the identifications; there was no misdirection or unfairness in the trial process, and accordingly the applicant's conviction on the remaining count must stand.
4 Jun 1992

THE QUEEN v. YEUNG HING YU

Citation

THE QUEEN v. YEUNG HING YU
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC320/1991

The judge did not err in refusing to discharge the jury because the corrective redirection was given in isolation during their deliberations, the jury's question demonstrated they could understand the law, and there was no substantial risk of unfairness; appellate interference is only warranted where the judge's discretion was plainly misapplied.
8 Feb 1991

THE QUEEN v. NGUYEN VAN HEIP

Citation

THE QUEEN v. NGUYEN VAN HEIP
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC164/1990

The trial judge did not abuse his discretion in refusing to discharge the jury; the jury were properly directed on identification and the burden of proof beyond reasonable doubt, the directions were adequate and any potential prejudice from counsel change or publicity was mitigated by recall of witnesses and judicial directions, therefore the conviction is safe and must be upheld.
13 May 1988

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. PAN CHI KEUNG AND OTHERS

Citation

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. PAN CHI KEUNG AND OTHERS
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV132/1987

The jury's purported non‑unanimous not‑guilty verdicts without a finding on manslaughter were legally imperfect; however once the trial judge accepted those verdicts and discharged the accused there was no Hong Kong procedure to set aside that order or to continue the same indictment, so the trial as concluded must be obeyed and the respondents' arrests made to continue that indictment were unlawful; accordingly the appeal is dismissed and the judge below's order discharging the respondents and returning bail stands.
12 May 1988

THE QUEEN v. TAM CHUNG SHING AND OTHERS

Citation

THE QUEEN v. TAM CHUNG SHING AND OTHERS
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC490/1987

Given the insufficiency of the transcript to determine material facts about juror inattention and the public interest in establishing whether the jury's verdict was safe, it was necessary and expedient in the interests of justice to order all compellable persons named (trial counsel, solicitors, articled clerk) except the appellant himself to attend and be examined before the Court of Appeal when the appeals are relisted; the Court refused at this stage to order reception of that evidence but left the matter open with liberty to restore.

Hong Kong Case Law

HKSAR v. CHEN KEEN (alias JACK CHEN) AND OTHERS

香港特別行政區 訴 嚴文浩

NG HA v. R.

THE QUEEN v. YEUNG HING YU

THE QUEEN v. NGUYEN VAN HEIP

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. PAN CHI KEUNG AND OTHERS

THE QUEEN v. TAM CHUNG SHING AND OTHERS

香港特別行政區訴嚴文浩