Read the full judgment text of CACC 000426/1996 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 19 March 1997 before Mortimer JA, Liu JA, Mayo JA.
Criminal law – bribery – conspiracy to offer a bribe – Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201) s.4(1)(b) – appeal against conviction – 'Food Court' basement of Kowloon Plaza managed by applicant for Paliburg – restaurant licence obtained only after two years and heavy fines for unlicensed operation – alleged conspiracy to bribe Chief Health Inspector Yu Ka-foo to expedite licence – bribe of HK$204,000 routed through two sham consultancy companies – accomplice evidence of Mak central to case – whether trial judge used 'corroboration' in the technical legal sense or as meaning 'circumstantially supported by' – abolition of mandatory corroboration warning by s.60 of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap 221) – whether it was open to judge to accept documents as support for accomplice evidence – adequacy of reasons for verdict and credibility assessment – alleged errors of fact – Criminal Procedure Ordinance (Cap 221) s.60 – whether 'corroborate' was used in the technical sense – held: judge used word in non-technical sense of 'circumstantially supported by' and never undertook technical corroboration analysis – whether documents supported accomplice's account – held: yes, open to judge to accept documents as supporting accomplice Mak's account of corrupt arrangement rather than applicant's innocent consultancy explanation – whether reasons for verdict and credibility assessment adequate – held: brief but adequate – whether alleged errors of fact invalidate conviction – held: not made out or not material – application refused and appeal dismissed – conviction for conspiracy to offer a bribe contrary to Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201) s.4(1)(b) upheld.
Legal issues: Whether the trial judge used 'corroboration' in the technical legal sense or as circumstantial support · Whether it was open to the judge to accept the documentary evidence as support for the accomplice Mak's evidence · Adequacy of the trial judge's assessment of accomplice credibility and reasons for verdict · Alleged errors of fact in the trial judge's reasoning
Outcome: Application refused and appeal dismissed; conviction for conspiracy to offer a bribe contrary to s.4(1)(b) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap 201) upheld.