Hong Kong Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Physical impossibility

Legal area

Court

15 Apr 2024

香港特別行政區訴李政達

Citation

[2024] HKCFI 1014
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA207/2022

Trial judge's acceptance of PW1 and PW2 as honest and reliable, together with contemporaneous facts (proximity, observed arm movement, immediate reaction by complainant and grabbing of sleeve) provided a coherent and sufficient evidential basis to conclude the appellant committed the indecent touching; appellate court will not overturn credibility findings or infer internal impossibility or misdirection on the record, therefore conviction is safe.
20 Sept 2019

香港特別行政區訴楊顯光

Citation

[2019] HKCFI 2243
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA72/2019

The appellate court concluded that material aspects of the complainant's account were implausible as a matter of physical possibility (notably the position and visibility of four straight fingers without a thumb) and that these doubts rendered the conviction unsafe; accordingly the conviction and sentence were quashed.
29 May 1998

HKSAR v. LAU MING YUEN

Citation

HKSAR v. LAU MING YUEN
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA216/1998

The Court held that the Magistrate properly considered the evidence, was entitled to conclude that the appellant committed the indecent assault as described, did not improperly rely on demeanour, and did not rely on any alleged admission to PW2; accordingly there was no miscarriage of justice and the appeal was dismissed.
7 May 1991

THE QUEEN v. LUI TAK FAI

Citation

THE QUEEN v. LUI TAK FAI
Court

Court of First Instance
Case number

HCMA195/1991

The convictions were quashed because the constable's account, relied upon by the trial magistrate after rejecting the complainant's testimony, was physically improbable and unbelievable on the facts (notably the distances described and visibility), rendering both convictions unsafe and unsatisfactory.

Hong Kong Case Law

香港特別行政區 訴 李政達

香港特別行政區 訴 楊顯光

HKSAR v. LAU MING YUEN

THE QUEEN v. LUI TAK FAI

香港特別行政區訴李政達

香港特別行政區訴楊顯光