15 Nov 2005
Leave to appeal was refused because the applicant failed to show a proper basis under s.32(2); the High Court's power to order a retrial was lawful and the magistrate's findings were sufficiently ambiguous that there was no basis to prevent retrial; the prosecution may proceed subject to its own discretion.
19 Nov 1999
The acquittal under the Dutiable Commodities Ordinance did not bar prosecution and conviction under the Dangerous Goods (General) Regulations because the two offences have different statutory ingredients and gravamen; issue estoppel and autrefois acquit do not apply where charges are different; prior rulings on admissibility do not preclude re‑admission at a subsequent trial; the magistrate was entitled to infer fumes and thus knowledge from the facts; conviction was therefore upheld while the custodial element of sentence was quashed as manifestly excessive.
2 Apr 1992
The application for judicial review was misconceived for an interlocutory attack on ongoing criminal proceedings; the appropriate route is to raise the complaints before the trial court and, if necessary, on appeal; absent exceptional justiciable circumstances the High Court should not grant prohibition or stay against a District Judge in these facts, and the motion is dismissed.
13 May 1988
The jury's purported non‑unanimous not‑guilty verdicts without a finding on manslaughter were legally imperfect; however once the trial judge accepted those verdicts and discharged the accused there was no Hong Kong procedure to set aside that order or to continue the same indictment, so the trial as concluded must be obeyed and the respondents' arrests made to continue that indictment were unlawful; accordingly the appeal is dismissed and the judge below's order discharging the respondents and returning bail stands.