Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Interpretation of statutory notices
  • 14 Mar 2000

    HKSAR v. YUEN MING SING

    Citation
    HKSAR v. YUEN MING SING
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCMA1157/1998

    The appellate court upheld the magistrate's factual findings that the use changed to large‑scale commercial warehousing not authorized by planning, that 'warehouse' bears its ordinary meaning and was not uncertain, and that the three‑month compliance period did not invalidate the Notice; accordingly the conviction was affirmed. However, the costs order was set aside because a convicted defendant must be able to present statutory defences without the automatic threat of bearing prosecution costs and there were no indicia that the defence had unreasonably prolonged the trial.