Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Magistrate bias

Legal area

Court

23 Sept 1988

THE QUEEN v. LO MING-YIN

Citation

THE QUEEN v. LO MING-YIN
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA749/1988

The Magistrate properly evaluated credibility, found the victim honest and totally restrained against his will, found the restraint unlawful and that the accused acted in common design; minor inconsistencies in police evidence did not undermine the prosecution's essential case; the alleged remark did not amount to bias and did not invalidate the conviction, therefore the appeal was dismissed.
8 Sept 1972

CHAN WING LOK v. THE QUEEN

Citation

CHAN WING LOK v. THE QUEEN
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC480/1972

The appeal is allowed because the magistrate's material findings were inconsistent with the prosecution evidence and showed potential unconscious bias (including inflammatory characterisations), rendering the conviction unsafe; additionally the suspended custodial sentence was manifestly excessive under authorities such as O'Keefe.
10 Sept 1971

LI TAK CHEUNG v. THE QUEEN

Citation

LI TAK CHEUNG v. THE QUEEN
Court

Court of Appeal
Case number

CACC418/1971

Because the magistrate's conduct in warning and effectively deterring a volunteered defence witness deprived the appellant of the opportunity to adduce part of his defence, the trial was unfair; convictions were therefore quashed and a new trial ordered (proviso not applied because evidence was not so weak as to render retrial unjust).