HKSAR v. See Wah Lun and Others

Read the full judgment text of CACC 370/2009 on BabelCite. This Court of Appeal judgment was delivered on 24 June 2011 before Cheung JA, Kwan JA, Lunn J.

Criminal law – appeal – leave to appeal to Court of Final Appeal – certificate under s.32(2) of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (Cap 484) – point of law of great and general importance – 'grave and substantial injustice' limb – witness testifying by live television link under s.79B of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance – whether defendant entitled to see whether witness is reading from witness statement – application to amend the proposed question – original question falling within the 'grave and substantial injustice' limb, which is a matter for the Court of Final Appeal – amended question not arising because no law or practice restricting the parties from seeing the whole of the witness on live television link, and the parties could have requested adjustment of the camera angle – new question not argued on the appeal – Court of Appeal refused the application to amend and dismissed the notice of motion with costs to the Respondent.

Legal issues: Whether to grant certificate that a point of law of great and general importance is involved under s.32(2) of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance

Outcome: Application to amend the question refused; notice of motion dismissed with costs to the Respondent.

Cited by 2 cases

Case No.CACC 370/2009
Court
Court of Appeal
Date24 Jun 2011
JudgeCheung JA, Kwan JA, Lunn J
Case Document
100%Judiciary

CACC370/2009

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF APPEAL

CRIMINAL APPEAL NO. 370 OF 2009

(On Appeal From High Court Criminal Case No. 13 of 2009)

________________________

BETWEEN

HKSAR Respondent
and
SEE WAH LUN (施華倫) 1st Applicant
TANG KA MAN (鄧嘉民) 2nd Applicant
WONG CHI MAN (黃智敏) 3rd Applicant
YEUNG CHUN KIT (楊俊傑) 4th Applicant
CHAN HO LEUNG (陳浩良) 5th Applicant

Before : Hon Cheung, Kwan JJA and Lunn J in Court

Date of Hearing : 24 June 2011

Date of Decision : 24 June 2011

________________________

D E C I S I O N

________________________

Hon Cheung JA (giving decision of the Court) :

1.In the Notice of Motion the applicants applied for a Certificate from this Court under section 32(2) of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance (‘the Ordinance’)(Chapter 484) that the following point of law of great and general importance is involved in the decision:

‘ Whether an accused had a fair trial, if he is unable to observe and immediately confront and prevent a witness testifying by way of a live television link, from “reading his witness statements in the course of giving evidence”…’

2.Mr. Boyton, counsel for the applicants, recognized that this question appears to fall within the ‘grave and substantial injustice’ limb of section 32(2) of the Ordinance which is a matter that does not concern this Court.  He asked for leave to amend the question as follows :

‘ When a court orders that a witness may testify by way of live television link in accordance with section 79B of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance, is it implicit in that order that the defendant should be able to see whether or not the witness is referring to his witness statement or other documents in the course of his or her testimony?

3.In our view, the new question does not arise at all.  First, there is no law or practice restricting the parties from seeing the whole of the witness when he gave evidence by the live television link.  If the parties wished to see him fully, they could have asked for the angle of the camera to be adjusted.  Second, the new question as framed was not an issue before us on appeal.  It was not argued that there was an unfair trial because of the restricted view of the witness.

4.Accordingly we will refuse the application to amend and will dismiss the notice of motion with costs to the Respondent.

(Peter Cheung) (Susan Kwan) (Michael Lunn)
Justice of Appeal Justice of Appeal Judge of the Court of
First Instance

Mr. William Tam SADPP and Mr. Franco Kuan Ag. SPP of Department of Justice, for the Respondent

Mr. David Boyton, instructed by Messrs Lau, Chan & Ko, for the 1st to 5th Applicants

Other Judgments in This Case

Further hearings and rulings under CACC 370/2009