Hong Kong justice department asks for greater role in suggesting punishments for certain offences
- Deputy head of prosecution asks to drop rule forcing lawyers to refer only to well-established sentencing guidelines when judges are deciding punishment
- But High Court judge says the current hearing is not the proper forum for discussing such a possibly monumental change to the legal system
Hong Kong’s justice department has asked an appeal court to remove a three-decade old rule and allow prosecutors to recommend specific punishments for certain offenders, but a judge declined to immediately consider the request given its potential “huge impact” on the legal system.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Vinci Lam Wing-sai said the Court of Appeal should review the rule it laid down in a 1989 judgment that states lawyers should only refer to well-established sentencing guidelines, instead of suggesting particular punishments. For instance, lawyers should select appeal cases centred on offences that suggest a scale of penalties and list out factors for consideration.
Lam said: “The rule has been here for 31 years. Does the court think it’s time to review prosecutors’ role in this regard?”
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Courts do not have sentencing guidelines on arson offences to allow judges to make flexible judgments based on the circumstances of a case. Neither are there guidelines for certain other offences such as rioting and assaulting police.