Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Speculation and inferences

Legal area

Court

4 Jun 2019

HKSAR v. PAL DHARAM

Citation

[2019] HKCA 560
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC64/2018

The judge's remarks about the likely cost of the airline ticket were a permissible summary of the prosecution's case and an application of common sense, made with explicit warnings that there was no evidence of purchase price and repeatedly cautioning against speculation; they did not amount to an invitation to speculate or render the summing‑up unfair, and therefore the conviction was safe.
9 Jan 2019

HKSAR v. CHAN TAK WAH

Citation

[2019] HKCA 35
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC311/2017

The judge correctly directed the jury that speculation was impermissible, that there was no evidence to support the suggested wholesale price so the jury should ignore that submission, and that the prosecution had to prove the applicant knew there were dangerous drugs in the parcel at the time of posting; defence counsel had accepted the judge's proposed direction and the summing up adequately addressed the requirement of proof of knowledge, therefore leave to appeal was refused and the conviction and sentence were upheld.