Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Hong Kong Case Law

Innocent owner

  • 24 Jul 2009

    WONG HON SUN v. HKSAR

    Citation
    WONG HON SUN v. HKSAR
    Court
    Court of Final Appeal
    Case number
    FACC1/2009

    Forfeiture proceedings under s.28 IEO are civil; the Commissioner must establish the goods are liable to forfeiture on the civil standard, and the claimant bears the legal burden to prove on the balance of probabilities that he is entitled to delivery (i.e. that he did not participate in or facilitate the contravention). Where the allegation of complicity is serious the commensurate evidence approach applies: the claimant must rebut liability with evidence of strength proportionate to the seriousness of the allegation. The magistrate's circumstantial finding that complicity was the only reaso…

  • 4 May 1994

    R. v. KAM SHEK KWONG

    Citation
    R. v. KAM SHEK KWONG
    Court
    Court of First Instance
    Case number
    HCMA140/1994

    Appeal allowed because the excavator belonged to a wholly innocent owner who had taken some precautions, could not reasonably have foreseen its use for smuggling, and forfeiture in those circumstances would be a gross and unjust deprivation; the magistrate misapplied the discretion under s.28(7).