Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Government chemist's certificate

Legal area

Court

12 Oct 1987

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. KO SHUM YIN

Citation

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. KO SHUM YIN
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA820/1987

The magistrate's blanket refusal to allow remands on first appearance and the consequent striking out of cases for want of prosecution was an unreasonable exercise of discretion; remands to obtain legal advice as to venue or to obtain Government Chemist's certificates are permissible and the cases must be remitted for further proceedings depending on the Crown's election.
12 Oct 1987

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. TSUI YIP KEI AND OTHERS

Citation

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. TSUI YIP KEI AND OTHERS
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA819/1987

A magistrate's blanket refusal to grant remands on an accused's first appearance so as to force immediate pleas, transfers or committal dates is an unreasonable exercise of discretion; remands may be required to allow the Attorney General to assess venue and to obtain forensic certificates and thus the orders striking out for want of prosecution were wrongful and must be set aside and remitted for proper disposition.
13 Nov 1986

THE QUEEN v. CHAK KIN WING

Citation

THE QUEEN v. CHAK KIN WING
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA1077/1986

The Government Chemist's Certificate was of no weight because of form defects and an inadequate chain of custody for paint samples; however, the magistrate's clear credibility findings concerning prosecution witnesses were sufficient to uphold the conviction absent the chemist's evidence; the sentence was quashed because the subsequent convictions relied on by the magistrate post-dated the offence and the delay in prosecution entitled the appellant to mitigation, and a fine of $1,000 was substituted for the 12-month disqualification.

Hong Kong Case Law

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. KO SHUM YIN

ATTORNEY GENERAL v. TSUI YIP KEI AND OTHERS

THE QUEEN v. CHAK KIN WING