Hong Kong national security law: trial without a jury unconstitutional, say lawyers for first person charged under new legislation
- Lawyers for Tong Ying-kit challenge justice minister’s decision to have trial before panel of three judges
- Tong has been charged with terrorism and incitement to commit secession
The first person to be tried under Hong Kong’s national security law has accused the justice minister of taking away his constitutionally protected right to trial by jury without according procedural fairness.
In an application for a judicial review, counsel for Tong Ying-kit – who is accused of riding a motorcycle into police last year – also questioned the basis for the decision to exclude a jury from his coming trial, and submitted that the Court of First Instance had both the power to review and quash it.
But Jenkin Suen SC, for the secretary for justice, countered that there was no fundamental right to jury trial even before the national security law introduced a new mode of trial in the High Court last year, adding the decision challenged was not an unconstitutional exercise of power and therefore not open to judicial review.
The court also heard that Tong, 24, was charged last Thursday with an additional count of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, on top of charges of terrorism and incitement to commit secession.
Tong faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted after trial next month before three High Court judges, who have been designated by Hong Kong’s leader, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, to handle national security law proceedings.
