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So Ping-chi at the District Court. Photo: Dickson Lee

Guilty: marine inspector ‘deliberately’ told workers to ignore life jacket rules before Lamma ferry disaster

Judge says So Ping-chi was not entitled to ‘second guess’ the law

A senior Marine Department official was convicted by a court on Tuesday for instructing his subordinates to flout rules on the number of children’s life jackets boats are required to carry in Hong Kong.

So Ping-chi, an assistant director at the department, also failed to rescind his instructions to ignore the rules, which came to light following the Lamma ferry collision that killed 39 people in 2012.

The District Court ruled it was “deliberate, not inadvertent” that So, 59, general manager of the Local Vessels Safety Section, had told inspectors to allow vessels to break the minimum life jacket rules introduced in 2007.

He was found guilty of one count of misconduct in public office while being the principal surveyor of ships from April 2007 to March 2013.

So has been suspended from duty and “will be handled according the established procedures”, the Marine Department said, though it fell short of stating the consequences So might face. He will be sentenced on June 21 and stands to lose his pension, according to his lawyer.

A spokesman from the Civil Service Department said it would take appropriate action, including disciplinary action, against civil servants convicted of criminal offences.

The seriousness of the defendant’s misconduct lies in his decision to disregard the will of the legislature and replace it with his own
Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong

When convicting So, Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong said: “The seriousness of the defendant’s misconduct lies in his decision to disregard the will of the legislature and replace it with his own.”

He said So, who had asked neither his superiors nor lawyers about the issue, was not entitled to “second guess” and depart from the law.

The senior public officer’s act was a serious abuse of public trust to the extent that it could warrant criminal action, the judge said.

The judge also concluded that So’s actions were to appease “industry representatives who were not happy with” the new legislation due to the potential costs, but he struck it out as not a reasonable excuse.

The judge noted earlier that although Michael Li Kwok-fai, So’s predecessor, had left behind an unwritten similar policy, “[So] had the authority and opportunity to rescind [it], but he chose to issue the non-enforcement instruction instead.”

Based on the testimony of the prosecution witnesses and So’s own admission, the judge found that So had issued the instruction.

In mitigation, defence counsel Daniel Marash said his client’s actions were by no means dishonest, but a way to smoothen the relationship between the industry and department.

The award-winning civil servant, who received myriad mitigation letters, including one from lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, was not the only to have given such instructions, the counsel said, citing So’s predecessor and successors.

Bereaved mother Irene Cheng, who lost her son in the ferry disaster, welcomed the verdict, but she pointed out that So was not among the core group to blame for the collision. There was no closure yet for her, she said.

Lawmaker James To Kun-sun was more concerned about the role that the lack of watertight compartments played when the Lamma IV sank after colliding with the Sea Smooth on October 1, 2012.

He urged the government to made public an internal investigation report now that the court case was over.

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