Prosecution guidelines still a letdown, says veteran barrister

Barristers have described as disappointing an updated code for prosecutors that they say still places too little emphasis on the role of jury trials.

The Department of Justice guidelines remain obscure on when prosecutors should submit a case to the District Court, which does not have jury trials, or the High Court, which does, the Bar Association says.

"The association is not satisfied with the present code; [it] repeats many of the points in the previous guideline," veteran barrister Michael Blanchflower SC, representing the professional body, told a Legislative Council panel meeting.

Speaking to the South China Morning Post later, he said there ought to be examples to illustrate which court to go to.

The prosecution code, as updated last year, added two new considerations for prosecutors in deciding the venue of a trial: whether the defendant held "high public status, responsibility or trust", and whether issues for determination "require the application of community standards and/or values", on top of existing principles including expected sentence lengths.

The department said this was "a substantial improvement".