Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Magistrate duties

Legal area

Court

28 May 2014

HKSAR v. SHUM WAN FOON

Citation

HKSAR v. SHUM WAN FOON
Court

Court of Final Appeal
Case number

FACC7/2013

A magistrate must inquire sufficiently into any application to reverse a guilty plea before sentencing; failure to do so is a departure from established legal norm and requires allowing the appeal and quashing the convictions. Ordinarily the matter should be remitted to the magistrate to inquire into the plea reversal, but an appellate court may exceptionally quash convictions without remitting where special circumstances (substantial delay, prejudice to fair trial, sentence already served, public interest) justify that course.
7 Sept 1992

THE QUEEN v. LI TUNG HING

Citation

THE QUEEN v. LI TUNG HING
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA618/1992

Where the admitted facts do not support the elements of the charged offence, a recorded plea of guilty is a nullity; the court may quash convictions and entertain appeal on that basis and the magistrate should not accept guilty pleas without ensuring the facts support the charge.
25 May 1984

THE QUEEN v. SO HUNG-LIM

Citation

THE QUEEN v. SO HUNG-LIM
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA156/1984

Convictions were quashed because the magistrate failed to afford the unrepresented appellant the opportunity to make final submissions, rendering the convictions unsafe; in the exercise of discretion and given the appellant's limited role, no retrial was ordered and monetary payments were to be refunded.
20 Jan 1984

THE QUEEN v. HO YEE CHUNG AND OTHERS

Citation

THE QUEEN v. HO YEE CHUNG AND OTHERS
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC134/1983

The failure of the committing magistrate's record to show that statements were read back under s.82(3) does not automatically render the committal or subsequent trial a nullity; s.82(3) is primarily evidentiary and concerns admissibility, and absent material prejudice the committal remains valid; the decision in The Queen v. Mok Chung (1975) H.K.L.R. 416 is not followed.
23 Mar 1979

WONG HING v. THE QUEEN

Citation

WONG HING v. THE QUEEN
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC193/1979

Failure of the magistrate to alert and explain to the unrepresented appellant at an appropriate time the presumption arising from possession of more than 0.5 gramme rendered the trafficking conviction unsafe; on appellate review the conviction was substituted with one for simple possession because the appellant might reasonably have pleaded or adduced evidence to rebut the presumption had he been properly informed.

Hong Kong Case Law

HKSAR v. SHUM WAN FOON

THE QUEEN v. LI TUNG HING

THE QUEEN v. SO HUNG-LIM

THE QUEEN v. HO YEE CHUNG AND OTHERS

WONG HING v. THE QUEEN