14 Aug 2003
LAI HUNG WAI v. SUPERINTENDENT OF STANLEY PRISON
- Citation
- LAI HUNG WAI v. SUPERINTENDENT OF STANLEY PRISON
- Court
- Court of First Instance
- Case number
- HCAL24/2003
The court held that an indeterminate sentence without a minimum term does not, by itself, constitute cruel, inhuman, degrading or arbitrary treatment contrary to art.3 of the Bill of Rights or art.28 of the Basic Law; the statutory Review Board and impending legislation provide lawful mechanisms to address uncertainty; habeas corpus cannot be extended to require the court to assess or impose a minimum term or to convert complaints about conditions of lawful detention into grounds for immediate release. Accordingly the habeas corpus application was refused.