Hong Kong’s first national security law trial will have no jury, Court of Appeal rules
- Three judges unanimously uphold justice minister’s decision to bring case before High Court jurists hand-picked by city’s leader
- Tong Ying-kit, 24, is accused of driving his motorcycle into a group of police while carrying a banner calling for Hong Kong’s ‘liberation’
Tuesday’s ruling at the Court of Appeal means Tong Ying-kit, whose three-week trial on secession and terrorism charges begins on Wednesday, will appear before a trio of High Court judges hand-picked by the city leader to oversee proceedings connected to the Beijing-imposed legislation.
Chief Judge of the High Court Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor said in his written judgment that even assuming Tong had a constitutional right to a jury trial, the decision to forgo one was at the sole discretion of prosecutors, and not amenable to conventional judicial review challenges like the one the defendant filed.
Although the assessment of the risk of a jury trial was usually “impressionistic and instinctual”, Poon added that the secretary for justice had no need to explain her thought process as it might involve classified information which would not be in the public interest to disclose.
He further held that Tong’s application, if granted, would have frustrated the timely disposal of his trial as required by the security law by delaying or even derailing the criminal process.
Tong, 24, has been charged with incitement to commit secession and terrorism, both of which are punishable by life in prison under the security law, after allegedly riding a motorcycle into three police officers while carrying a banner calling for the city’s “liberation” on July 1 last year.
