15 Dec 1981
THE ATTORNEY GENERAL v. CHAN WAI-LAN AND OTHERS
- Citation
- THE ATTORNEY GENERAL v. CHAN WAI-LAN AND OTHERS
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Case number
- CAAR24/1981
The magistrate's uniform imposition of absolute discharges (with convictions recorded) for first offences under s.17C(3) was wrong in principle and manifestly inadequate; the proper approach on review is to apply the ordinary 'manifestly excessive/manifestly inadequate' test and to impose a monetary penalty for first offences in the guideline range of $150–$200 HKD absent mitigating circumstances, with higher fines for aggravation and allowance to reduce the sentence to account for double peril created by review.