Pang, Chung Ping 彭中屏
SJ v Cheng Ka Yee & others
HK Court of Final Appeal, 4-Apr-2019
As we predicted last August, HK's highest court confirms that the Government has been overreaching by charging people with "obtaining access" to their own computers with criminal or dishonest intent. In such cases the Government must now prove the core offence rather than using the catch-all "but she used her computer/ smartphone/ smartwatch to prepare for an offence". You can't "obtain" something you already have.
HK Court of Final Appeal, 4-Apr-2019
As we predicted last August, HK's highest court confirms that the Government has been overreaching by charging people with "obtaining access" to their own computers with criminal or dishonest intent. In such cases the Government must now prove the core offence rather than using the catch-all "but she used her computer/ smartphone/ smartwatch to prepare for an offence". You can't "obtain" something you already have.
SJ v Cheng Ka Yee & others
| Section 161
HK Court of First Instance, 6-Aug-2018
Kudos to Deputy Judge Pang Chung Ping, who calls out the Government for its abuse of section 161 of the Crimes Ordinance, "obtaining access to a computer" with dishonest intent. He rules that something which is not a crime without the use of a computer cannot be a crime just because a computer is used, and that "obtaining access" to someone else's computer is not the same as "using" your own computer, whether it is a smartphone or any other type of computer. We wait to see whether the Government will take this to the higher courts, but in our view, the game is over.
HK Court of First Instance, 6-Aug-2018
Kudos to Deputy Judge Pang Chung Ping, who calls out the Government for its abuse of section 161 of the Crimes Ordinance, "obtaining access to a computer" with dishonest intent. He rules that something which is not a crime without the use of a computer cannot be a crime just because a computer is used, and that "obtaining access" to someone else's computer is not the same as "using" your own computer, whether it is a smartphone or any other type of computer. We wait to see whether the Government will take this to the higher courts, but in our view, the game is over.
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