Judge denies South China Holdings boss an exemption from jury duty
A High Court judge has refused to exempt the chairman of Hong Kong-listed South China Holdings and the Express News from jury service, rejecting as invalid his claim that serving on a jury would inconvenience his business affairs.
Madam Justice Clare-Marie Beeson yesterday refused to exercise her power to remove Robert Ng Hung-sang from the jury list, finding that his business lifestyle did not warrant an exemption.
Mr Ng's lawyer, making an application under the Jury Ordinance on his behalf in the Court of First Instance, said it would be very inconvenient for Mr Ng to have jury duty.
The lawyer told the judge Mr Ng had been travelling to 'every province' on the mainland in the past six months and he was a busy businessman who had to manage 24,900 employees in his group of companies.
Owing to Mr Ng's position, it would be easier for him to arrange for an employee to serve in his place, the court heard.
Madam Justice Beeson was also asked to consider Mr Ng's duty at the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
In February 2001 Mr Ng was exempted from jury service for three years after a High Court application.
But yesterday Madam Justice Beeson decided not to grant the exemption. She said in her ruling that she considered there was 'no big difference' in the lifestyle of Mr Ng's and that of others in the pool of potential jurors.
The judge also said that if Mr Ng was selected as a member of the jury, he should apply to the trial judge for an exemption if the trial was expected to run for a substantial period.
Under the ordinance, public officers or people who are involved with the legal system, emergency services, or are in full-time study are exempt from jury selection as it could cause substantial inconvenience to the public.
The law requires a juror to be a Hong Kong resident aged between 21 and 65, of good character and have a sufficient knowledge of the language in which the proceedings are conducted.
According to a consultation paper released by the Law Reform Commission in January, there were 469,488 eligible jurors in June 2006. Of those, only 267,143 were available for selection.
