Law Chung Ki v. HKSAR
Read the full judgment text of FAMC 59/2004 on BabelCite. This FAMC judgment was delivered on 12 January 2005.
1. The Court of Appeal appears to have taken and acted on the view that an omission to give the sort of direction which takes its name from the decision of the English Court of Appeal in R v. Walton [2003] EWCA 3644 becomes immaterial once the jury convicts both of the accused who blamed each other in the witness-box. But does it? This is a question of law of great and general importance. And it is open to reasonable argument. There are hazards in deducing the thinking processes of jurors wh
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FAMC No. 59 of 2004 IN THE COURT OF FINAL APPEAL OF THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS NO. 59 OF 2004 (CRIMINAL) (ON APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL FROM CACC NO. 220 OF 2002) _____________________ Between:
_____________________ Appeal Committee: Mr Justice Bokhary PJ, Mr Justice Chan PJ and Mr Justice Ribeiro PJ Date of Hearing: 12 January 2005 Date of Determination: 12 January 2005 ______________________ D E T E R M I N A T I O N ______________________ Mr Justice Bokhary PJ: 1.The Court of Appeal appears to have taken and acted on the view that an omission to give the sort of direction which takes its name from the decision of the English Court of Appeal in R v. Walton [2003] EWCA 3644 becomes immaterial once the jury convicts both of the accused who blamed each other in the witness-box. But does it? This is a question of law of great and general importance. And it is open to reasonable argument. There are hazards in deducing the thinking processes of jurors who have not been adequately directed. For example, the jury’s rejection of each accused’s evidence exculpatory of himself may have been influenced by the other accused’s evidence inculpatory of him (in respect of which no Walton direction had been given). We certify the question and grant leave to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal to pursue it. The appeal will give the Court an opportunity to go into the whole question of the necessity for or desirability of a Walton or some such direction. 2.Having granted leave on the question of law basis, we take the precaution, in all the circumstances, of granting leave on the substantial and grave injustice basis, too.
Mr Selwyn Yu (instructed by Messrs Cheung & Yip and assigned by the Legal Aid Department) for the applicant Mr Cheung Wai-sun and Ms Olivia Tsang (of the Department of Justice) for the respondent |