A date has yet to be set for an inquest into the deaths of two officers in a shoot-out between police in a Tsim Sha Tsui underpass earlier this year. Few cases to come before the coroner have generated as much interest. Many questions remain to be answered.
We can be confident, however, that justice will be served. We are fortunate to have a good legal system and an independent judiciary. Our judges, or in this case the coroner, are competent to make decisions according to the evidence, and quite capable of putting out of their minds anything they may have heard or read about the case before them.
The Coroner's Ordinance provides for the coroner to hear an inquest alone or before a jury of five. Whether in a criminal case before a judge or in an inquest, great care is taken to try to ensure that jurors are not exposed to or influenced by anything said or reported, or that may have happened outside the court, that might be seen to prejudice their deliberations.
We are fortunate in Hong Kong that our jurors by and large have proved very sensible in carrying out their duties. In their deliberations they are directed according to law by the judge. There is every reason to be confident that cases that come before juries are decided on their merits on the evidence.
Having said that, it remains very important not only that justice is done, but that it is seen to be done. You would expect, therefore, to find law enforcement agencies setting the example and taking care not to do anything that might be perceived as capable of influencing proceedings one way or the other.
In the case of the police shoot-out, this newspaper has reported concern that has been expressed about bravery awards announced on July 1 for two officers involved - one of the two dead, who was also buried with full force honours in Gallant Garden, and a survivor. The concern is that the announcement of these awards at this time could prejudice the inquiry into the circumstances of the deaths.
As it is, after the shootings, police labelled a third officer, also killed in the shoot-out, a 'rogue cop'. A senior officer said he had ambushed the other two and that had he lived he would have been charged with the killing of another officer and a bank security guard. Police have made very little information available since, perhaps to avoid any suggestion of prejudicing the inquest. Only yesterday the force said: 'As a death inquest is likely to be held, it would be inappropriate to divulge further details of investigation.'
