Magistrate rapped for refusing bail request without giving reason
Eastern Court's Symon Wong, who gave no reason for refusing man's request for time to get a lawyer, 'brought disgrace to judiciary'
A High Court judge has rapped a magistrate for "bringing disgrace to the judiciary" over his decision to refuse bail to a defendant in a drug case who had requested time to get a lawyer.
Deputy judge Mr Justice Michael Stuart-Moore said he was "utterly shocked" that Magistrate Symon Wong Yu-wing, of Eastern Court, did not give any reason on Monday for remanding Leung Ka-kit in custody.
Leung, 34, had earlier been granted bail twice, by the police and the courts. But Wong's decision landed the defendant in jail for four nights, until he had the opportunity to present his application for bail afresh at the High Court yesterday, in a hearing brought forward by Stuart-Moore to remedy the situation.
"There is not one single valid reason either by the magistrate or by the fact, for the withdrawal of the bail," the judge said.
He called it an abuse of power "to lock up an unrepresented defendant who was highly powerless to do anything".
The judicial system was built on the principle of equal treatment and all parties who were brought before the court should be treated fairly, Stuart-Moore said.