Bar chairman says some protest cases not in public interest can be dropped

Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes has used his speech at the opening of the 2020 legal year to remind the authorities that not all of those accused of offenses related to anti-government protests need to be taken to court, and cases can be dropped if they are not in the public interest, RTHK reports.

"It is not for me to advise the Secretary for Justice about who she should prosecute," Dykes said.

"However, the Prosecution Code published by the Department of Justice reminds us that a decision to prosecute is not made just because the police have enough evidence to go to court and secure a conviction. Public interest plays a part in the decision-making process too, so that individuals or some classes of cases will not end up in court, even though there is a strong case against them."

Dykes said people would be wrong to think that a decision not to prosecute when there is enough evidence to secure a conviction runs contrary to the rule of law.

"The prosecutor's looking beyond the four corners of a charge sheet to other matters, both personal to the person charged, and to other matters is a part of the rule of law."

The Bar Association chairman said "a fair few" of the guests at the ceremony at City Hall will have participated in recent demonstrations to show "discontent with the Hong Kong government".

Dykes added that he hopes all of them will have despaired when they saw serious violence breaking out, with "some people attacking and injuring others, whilst others committed acts of criminal damage".

He said there will be a "reckoning" for some people later this year, with the police having arrested several thousand people from all walks of life.

While many face serious charges, and others lesser offenses, "they are all of them, in the main, of good character," and "representative of a large section of Hong Kong society," Dykes said.