Judge blasts Hong Kong police’s ‘high degree of incompetence’, as he awards plastics firm damages
Police and the Department of Justice impounded shipping containers belonging to Chun Sang Plastics Company for up to two years and seven months. Deputy High Court judge Conrad Seagroatt said that betrayed their ‘ignorance of the law’
A judge on Friday chided Hong Kong’s police force and justice department for their “high degree of incompetence” as he awarded HK$1.7 million (US$217,000) in damages to a private company wronged by the two authorities unlawfully impounding its shipping containers.
He also decried the officials’ “ignorance of the law”.
Ruling in Chun Sang Plastics Company’s favour, deputy High Court judge Conrad Seagroatt said the Hong Kong Police Force and Department of Justice “paralysed a significant aspect” of the plastic trader’s business almost a decade ago.
The civil suit stemmed from police seizures of 17 containers in 2008. Officers believed they contained stolen goods, despite the company showing legitimate invoices.
The containers ended up in police possession for months, the last batch of six only being released two years and seven months later, after lengthy litigation. The judge concluded staff at the Department of Justice, including senior government lawyers, offered biased advice which contributed to the situation.
“The conduct of both defendants [the police commissioner and secretary for justice] illustrated a high degree of incompetence and ignorance,” the judge wrote in a judgment handed down on Friday.