Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Jury directions and summing up

Legal area

Court

26 Apr 2016

香港特別行政區訴陳曉揚

Citation

香港特別行政區訴陳曉揚
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC196/2014

The application for leave to appeal against conviction is dismissed because the trial judge provided fair and comprehensive directions and the issues relied upon by the applicant (chain of custody, police record deficiencies, witness inconsistencies, non‑production of forensic/CCTV evidence, and prosecution closing speech) were matters properly left for the jury; no miscarriage of justice is shown to justify appellate intervention.
6 Feb 2012

HKSAR v. KOSAR MAHMOOD

Citation

HKSAR v. KOSAR MAHMOOD
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC274/2010

The Court held that none of the six grounds against conviction established unfairness: the judge's questions and summing up were within permissible bounds and balanced; prosecuting counsel's closing remarks did not cross permissible limits; no failure to give an adequate Liberato direction; the jury were properly directed on credibility and burden; sentencing aggregation of 733g to a 21‑year starting point was consistent with authority and the sentence was appropriate; applications for leave to appeal conviction and sentence were dismissed.
19 Apr 2007

HKSAR v. OU KA CHI

Citation

HKSAR v. OU KA CHI
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FAMC63/2006

The application for leave to appeal was dismissed because the Recorder's directions, viewed in context, were adequate and did not create a realistic danger that the jury would wrongly reject the applicant's evidence; the internal report was properly in evidence because the applicant adduced it; alleged misdirections about the purpose of misappropriated funds and prior frauds of PW4 did not cause prejudice; the proposed grounds were not reasonably arguable and did not demonstrate substantial and grave injustice.
19 Aug 2003

HKSAR v. KHAN ARSHED

Citation

HKSAR v. KHAN ARSHED
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC533/2001

The trial judge did not err in law or in the exercise of his discretion: there was no evidential basis requiring a special corroboration warning; the summing up fairly and thoroughly addressed inconsistencies, medical evidence and other points relied on by the defence; the alleged discrepancies were trivial or fully explored at trial; fresh evidence was not necessary or expedient; accordingly the convictions were safe and the appeal is dismissed.
13 May 2002

HKSAR v. WONG SAU MING

Citation

HKSAR v. WONG SAU MING
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC85/2001

Majority: Although admission of the prior magistrate's reasons was arguably marginal, the magistrate's findings indicated doubt rather than proven falsity; having admitted that material the jury were entitled to assess for themselves the extent to which the earlier findings undermined police credibility, and the judge's direction to that effect was not an error requiring reversal; conviction upheld.
16 Jan 2002

HKSAR v. WONG MUK HON AND ANOTHER

Citation

HKSAR v. WONG MUK HON AND ANOTHER
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC458/1999

The Court held that the impugned directions were either unnecessary or contained limited error that was not material to the safety of the convictions given the overwhelming circumstantial evidence linking the applicants to trafficking; D2's voluntariness and complaints were properly considered at trial and subsequent unrelated police misconduct did not vitiate the trial; sentencing for D1 was appropriate and D2's sentence was reduced by six months to reflect time effectively served concurrently, resulting in 24.5 years for D2.
21 Dec 1999

HKSAR v. NG SWEE THIAM AND OTHERS

Citation

HKSAR v. NG SWEE THIAM AND OTHERS
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC475/1998

The Court held the trial judge's directions were legally adequate and, although he erred in effectively treating two charged conspiracies as one and omitted a formal similar-fact direction, those errors did not materially affect the jury's verdicts; the challenged fingerprint/rental receipt evidence was properly admitted as probative; joinder of counts was appropriate; accordingly the proviso to s.83 Criminal Procedure Ordinance applies and the conviction is upheld (appeal dismissed as to conviction).
13 Aug 1999

HKSAR v. NG CHUNG PING

Citation

HKSAR v. NG CHUNG PING
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC198/1998

The appeal is dismissed because the evidence of the earlier possession and the plea was admitted by agreement, the trial judge gave clear, repeated and balanced directions limiting the jury's use of that evidence and exhibits, and the summing up as a whole was fair; moreover, even without the contested exhibits there was sufficient evidence to support the conviction.
7 Apr 1995

R. v. LEUNG LAP SUN and Others

Citation

R. v. LEUNG LAP SUN and Others
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC276/1994

After conducting voir dire the trial judge was entitled to find the confessions voluntary and to admit them; the Secretary for Security rule III(b) did not apply on the facts and in any event is only guidance; the judge's directions to the jury, while not perfect, were adequate to require the prosecution to prove reliability and voluntariness beyond reasonable doubt and did not produce an unfair trial; accordingly there was no basis to overturn the convictions and the applications for leave to appeal were dismissed.
24 Apr 1986

THE QUEEN v. KEUNG SAI CHUNG (D2) AND OTHERS

Citation

THE QUEEN v. KEUNG SAI CHUNG (D2) AND OTHERS
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC19/1985

The Court held applications for leave to appeal against conviction were without merit: the post-voir dire note-reading incident did not vitiate the trial because a witness may refresh memory and the incident affected weight not admissibility; the trial judge correctly exercised discretion under s.75 not to raise fitness to be tried absent a real and substantial question and based on subsequent medical evidence; the cautioned statements were properly admitted as voluntary on the evidence; directions and summing up were not unfair or prejudicial to require reversal; indictment form and evidence…