Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Forced labour

Legal area

Court

11 Jun 2025

CB v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE, SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE, SECRETARY FOR SECURITY

Citation

[2025] HKCFA 10
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FACV1/2025

Where a breach of BOR4(3) investigative duties is found the court must assess remedies on a fact-specific basis; enactment of bespoke criminal legislation criminalising forced labour is required only if it is the 'only effective solution' to provide practical and effective protection of BOR4 rights; on the facts (investigative failures relating to investigation of other FDHs and prosecutorial history) bespoke legislation was not shown to be the only effective solution and therefore is not mandated; appeal dismissed.
25 Nov 2024

CB v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2024] HKCA 1086
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV208/2022

Leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal is granted only on the discrete question whether the investigative failures found in this case were causally connected to the absence of specific legislation criminalising forced labour such that BOR4 requires enactment of a bespoke offence; other questions seeking alternative analytical approaches, broader scope issues or novel arguments are refused as they are subsidiary, not argued before this court, overly abstract or precluded by existing authority (ZN).
22 Apr 2022

AM v. DIRECTOR OF IMMIGRATION AND OTHERS

Citation

[2022] HKCFI 1046
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL466/2021

On the facts the court found AM's judicial review application time‑barred and dismissed leave for delay and insufficient merits. In CB's case the court found police screening and investigative decisions were procedurally defective and prematurely curtailed the inquiry under BOR4; those decisions were quashed and the issues remitted to the Commissioner of Police for renewed investigation including consideration of other possible victims and offences. The court declared that, on these facts, the investigative failures were causally connected to the absence of specific legislation criminalising…
22 Apr 2022

CB v. COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND ANOTHER

Citation

[2022] HKCFI 1046
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL617/2021

AM's application for leave was dismissed as time‑barred and lacking sufficient merit given delay and destroyed records; CB succeeded on grounds that police screening and investigative decisions were legally defective and investigations were prematurely curtailed in breach of BOR4 procedural duties, quashing the 2nd TIP Decision and Forced Labour Decision and remitting the matters for renewed investigation; the court found a causal connection between investigative failures and the absence of bespoke legislation criminalising forced labour in Hong Kong sufficient to warrant a declaration and ur…
2 May 2018

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS

Citation

[2018] HKCA 255
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACV14/2017

Application to intervene by Share (Asia Pacific) Limited refused because the proposed intervener would not materially assist the Court: the applicant had already adduced expert evidence and advanced legal submissions covering the relevant issues, SAPL would largely repeat existing arguments and add no substantive new evidence or legal approach sufficient to justify intervention, and intervention would therefore be unhelpful and potentially prejudicial.
24 Apr 2018

HKSAR v. DUMAYAG, ANALYN PEDRO

Citation

[2018] HKCFI 825
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA668/2016

Appeal allowed and conviction quashed because the prosecutor's failure to cross-examine the appellant on critical credibility issues, combined with the magistrate's reliance on those unchallenged criticisms, breached the rule in Browne v Dunn and rendered the conviction unsafe, notwithstanding that the magistrate correctly declined to stay proceedings on trafficking grounds.
23 Dec 2016

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS

Citation

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL15/2015

On the evidence the applicant was a victim of trafficking for forced labour and the HKSARG breached Article 4 BOR by failing to identify and investigate his case and by lacking adequate criminalisation and practical measures to protect victims; Article 4 BOR covers trafficking for the purposes of slavery, servitude or forced labour and imposes positive obligations on the HKSARG to enact effective measures and investigate credible suspicions.
11 Dec 2015

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS

Citation

ZN v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCAL15/2015

Leave to adduce the expert report of Ms Klara Skrivankova dated 12 October 2015 is granted insofar as it addresses specialist matters (indicia, characteristics and victim identification in human trafficking) that will assist the Court; but the report is inadmissible insofar as it makes primary factual findings or expresses conclusions on the ultimate issue of whether the applicant was a victim of trafficking, because those matters are for the Court to decide.