Agent, lawyer jailed under archaic law
A judge yesterday jailed a recovery agent and a lawyer in the city's only criminal convictions for the rarely laid charges of maintenance and champerty.
The first and last time a Hong Kong court sentenced anyone for maintenance was in 1897, when it fined two people. Their convictions were overturned on appeal.
Maintenance is the practice of a third party supporting litigation by others. Champerty occurs when a person funds a case to win a portion of the compensation.
District Court Judge Albert Wong Sung-hau noted defence lawyers' arguments that the charges had been decriminalised in England and that concerns about unregulated litigation had lowered in recent times. But he recalled prosecutors' arguments that the charges still had relevance today.
Judge Wong earlier found recovery agent Cheung Oi-ping, 39, and lawyer Winnie Lo Wai-yan, 40, guilty of one count of maintenance. Cheung was also found guilty of one count of champerty.
Cheung was jailed for 16 months and Lo for 15 months.
Judge Wong acquitted Cheung of one count each of theft and attempting to commit champerty, and Cheung and Lo of aiding and abetting someone to commit perjury.
Cheung and Lo helped Wong Siu-ying, the mother of accident victim Yeung Chun-kit, win a HK$3.5 million out of court settlement in September 2003. Mr Yeung was left mentally incapacitated after a car crash in 2002.
Cheung had Ms Wong sign a contract saying she would pay her 25 per cent of her settlement if she won, but nothing if she lost. Ms Wong won, and Cheung got HK$862,000.
Prosecutors yesterday sought an order for Cheung to return that amount to Ms Wong, saying the court had determined the contract unlawful and therefore unenforceable. Mr Wong did not grant the order and said Ms Wong should seek compensation in civil proceedings.
Superintendent Francis Ho Ying-foo, of the regional crime bureau, said the law was clear that maintenance and champerty were offences and charges would be laid in more cases if there was enough evidence.
Taxi and Public Light Bus Concern Group chairman Lai Ming-hung welcomed the sentence, saying the public should be aware that because of similar lawyers, medical practitioners and recovery agents, lazy taxi and minibus drivers had been claiming compensation for even the slightest injuries, taking sick leave for weeks and even years, and driving up the cost of insurance.
Champerty and maintenance are not criminal offences in the United States but are forbidden by English law as lawyers are not suppose to take cases in which they have an interest.
The Law Society's Albert Wong Kwai-huen said agents or lawyers who can only receive a fee by winning the case may reach a settlement that did not serve the client's best interest.
The Department of Justice said accident victims should seek proper legal assistance from solicitors or the Legal Aid Department.
