Cheang, Kei Hong 鄭紀航

HKSAR v Chan Chun KitSummary Offences Ordinance s17
HK Court of Final Appeal, 15-Jul-2022
No thought crimes: in an encouraging sign that the highest HK court (but not the courts below) are robustly pushing back against overreaching prosecutions, the CFA unanimously overturns the Court of Appeal and Magistrate and rules that because cable ties are not manufactured for the purpose of restraining a person, they are outside the scope of the Summary Offences Ordinance, and the defendant's conviction is overturned. Applying the prosecution's wide interpretation would "do violence to the language" and "effectively turn the section into a thought crime" - Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui Nung.

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