Hong Kong’s top court to consider validity of commonly used law for smartphone-related crime – including upskirting – in February
- Prosecutors get green light to challenge ruling that using offence of accessing a computer with dishonest intent was wrongly applied in a case
Hong Kong’s top court will determine in late February next year whether the Department of Justice can continue to use an existing law to take action against smartphone-related crimes, potentially ending months of limbo in bringing such cases to court.
The Court of Final Appeal on Friday gave prosecutors the green light to challenge a lower court’s ruling that using the offence of accessing a computer with dishonest intent – under Section 161(c) of the Crimes Ordinance – was wrongly applied in the case of four schoolteachers.
The four were found not guilty of leaking entrance examination questions using their smartphones and computer. The decision meant the department had to review pending cases of smartphone-related crimes, including upskirting, and put prosecutions on hold.
Director of Public Prosecutions David Leung Cheuk-yin conceded the impact of the ruling in August went further than the 15 smartphone-related court cases put on hold for months.
“There have been quite a number of cases for which we have not pressed charges – pending the current appeal – and there are far more actual cases than that,” Leung told the court on Friday.
