Read the full judgment text of CACV 485/2022 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 26 July 2023 before Poon CJHC, Kwan VP and Chu VP.
Administrative and public law – Coroners Ordinance (Cap 504) – section 20(1)(a) – public interest in holding death inquest – Lamma IV maritime disaster 1 October 2012 – collision of passenger vessels Sea Smooth and Lamma IV off north-west Lamma Island – 39 deaths including 8 young children and 97 injuries – Lamma IV sank in 118 seconds – Commission of Inquiry appointed under Commissions of Inquiry Ordinance (Cap 86) – COI made 13 recommendations – criminal proceedings against two coxswains and two Marine Department officers – Coroner declined to hold inquest – victims were unlawfully killed – application to Court of First Instance under section 20(1)(a) dismissed by Coleman J – appeal to Court of Appeal – proper construction of "how the person came by his death" in section 27(b) – broadly construed as "by what means and in what circumstances" – public interest factors for deciding whether to hold inquest – fresh evidence from Death Investigation Reports – whether Bulkhead of Lamma IV was designed to be watertight – whether Port Hull Bow Plating was attached to Sea Smooth at time of collision – non-compliance of coaming height of Lamma IV – periodic surveys of vessels by Marine Department – long working hours of seafarers – 17 MD officers found by Transport and Housing Bureau to have misconducted themselves – THB internal investigation private and cannot substitute inquest – whether Judge erred in exercise of discretion – Judge's view too restrictive – appeal allowed – death inquest ordered – no order as to costs
Legal issues: Interpretation of 'public interest' under section 20(1)(a) of the Coroners Ordinance · Construction of 'how the person came by his death' in section 27(b) of the Coroners Ordinance · Whether the public interest required a death inquest into the Lamma IV victims' deaths
Outcome: Appeal allowed; Judge's order set aside; death inquest ordered into the deaths of the two victims of the Lamma IV named in the Amended Notice of Appeal.
Cites 6 cases