In a first for the Hong Kong Coroner's Court, the jury in the Manila bus inquest will return a narrative verdict - a description of the events that led to the death of eight hostages on August 23 last year.
'We believe that Hongkongers will not be content with a simple verdict that concludes, for example, that Masa Tse was unlawfully killed,' counsel Hectar Pun Hei said yesterday in a closing submission. He was referring to the tour guide on the bus seized by sacked Filipino police officer Rolando Mendoza.
He earlier proposed to the coroner, Michael Chan Pik-kiu, that the narrative verdict could be given.
'We ask the jury, for the first time, to return a narrative verdict,' said Pun, who is representing the tour guide's elder brother, Tse Chi-kin.
The five jurors in Hong Kong's inquest into the tragedy are expected to reach a verdict soon. Thirty-one Hong Kong witnesses and 10 from the Philippines testified during the inquest.
The jury will also decide on the cause of death - for example, death by misadventure, unlawful killing or an open verdict. Chan has yet to direct the jury on options available to them.