FIVE people and a marketing firm, acquitted of dealing in 1,746 bottles of brandy on which duty had not been paid, must stand trial after all, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.
Magistrate James Lee Chung-yin had held that the offences were incompatible with the Bill of Rights, because once it was proved people were in possession, there was no defence.
As the Bill of Rights provides everyone with the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by law, the magistrate held that the offences had been repealed by the bill.
He dismissed all charges against Fong Chin-yue, Kwok Shu-kei, Telford International Marketing Ltd, Hung Hing-bun, Leung Hok-hei and Chan Siu-ping on January 5 without hearing evidence. Steve Bailey, for the Attorney-General, appealed against this decision.
The brandy is worth $1.4 million and the duty payable would be almost $262,000.
Giving judgment yesterday, Mr Justice Bokhary said the law was not contrary to the Bill of Rights as the Privy Council had ruled that merely because a burden was placed on the defendant it was not automatically in conflict with the bill.