Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Interpretation of sections 3 and 19
  • 9 Mar 1990

    THE QUEEN v. WONG WAI YIP AND OTHERS

    Citation
    THE QUEEN v. WONG WAI YIP AND OTHERS
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCMA1518/1989

    Section 19 creates rebuttable presumptions that give prima facie proof that premises are a gambling establishment and that persons found were gambling, but those presumptions do not displace the requirement that the Crown prove mens rea (knowledge) for offences under s5 and s6; on the facts the magistrate could reasonably infer knowledge and therefore the convictions were properly upheld; interpreting s3 to operate on a per‑cubicle basis was rejected as undermining the statute's purpose.