Read the full judgment text of CACC 001167/1978 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 11 September 1979 before Roberts CJ, McMullin JA, Trainor J.
Criminal law – dangerous drugs – possession for unlawful trafficking – sentencing – tariff – appeal against sentence – Court of Appeal's role in providing sentencing guidance – consistency in punishment – deterrence – morphine – mixture versus content – Chan Chi-ming sentenced to five and a half years by a District Court Judge for possession of 146 grammes of a mixture containing 47.7 grammes of salts of esters of morphine – whether sentence substantially in excess of usual tariff – appeal allowed and sentence reduced to three and a half years – quantity of mixture rather than content as primary factor – 146 grammes fell within 'small quantity' category (30-150 grammes) with tariff of 3-5 years – new sentencing tariff established for the guidance of courts: very small (up to 30 grammes) 2-3 years; small (about 30 to 150 grammes) 3-5 years; substantial (about 150 to 1,000 grammes) 5-8 years; very substantial (above 1,000 grammes) 8-12 years, save in cases of an unusually serious nature – tariff for opium substantially lower unless intended for hard drug conversion – clear record little mitigation – assistance to police and guilty plea mitigatory – previous drug offences aggravate – allowance for possible addiction only in very small quantity category – declining conviction statistics (1,924 in 1976, 1,220 in 1977, 967 in 1978) did not warrant upward revision.
Legal issues: Whether the sentence of five and a half years was excessive for possession for unlawful trafficking of 146 grammes of drug mixture · Sentencing tariff categories for unlawful trafficking in dangerous drugs · General factors to be considered in sentencing for unlawful trafficking in dangerous drugs
Outcome: Appeal against sentence allowed; sentence reduced from five and a half years to three and a half years; court also prescribed a new general sentencing tariff for unlawful trafficking in dangerous drugs.