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HCMA1014/2006
IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION
COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE
MAGISTRACY APPEAL NO. HCMA1014/2006
(ON APPEAL FROM ESS 7775/2006)
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BETWEEN
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HKSAR |
Respondent |
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and |
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Shun Tak Properties Limited
(信德置業管理有限公司)
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Appellant |
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Coram: Deputy High Court Judge Line in Court
Dates of Hearing: 9 January 2007
Date of Judgment: 9 January 2007
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D E C I S I O N
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1. In this appeal, a point has arisen as to whether or not what is called, “the common-law offence,” is available to the Appellant who has been convicted under Regulation 4 of the Factories and Industrial Undertakings (Suspended Working Platforms) Regulations.
2. There are different views at first instance on the general availability of such a defence, and it seems to me the matter needs to be resolved as a matter of some urgency because when such prosecutions or similar ones are undertaken in the Magistrates’ Court some magistrates say it applies, some do not. That is a an unsatisfactory state of affairs.
3. Accordingly, I am going to exercise, at the invitation of both parties, my power under Section 118(1)(d) to reserve the appeal to the Court of Appeal and that is the order I make today.
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(P Line)
Deputy High Court Judge |
Representation:
Mr Joseph Wong, Senior Government Counsel, of the Department of Justice, for the Respondent
Mr Toby R W Jenkyn-Jones, instructed by Messrs Johnson, Stokes & Master, for the Appellant
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