HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying
HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying was an appeal involving points of law by the Department of Justice over the decision of the Court of First Instance (CFI) to grant bail to the founder of Apple Daily Jimmy Lai. The Court of Final Appeal (CFA) reversed the CFI's interpretation of art.42(2) of the Hong Kong national security law.
| HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying | |
|---|---|
| Court | Court of Final Appeal |
| Full case name | HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying |
| Decided | 9 February 2021 |
| Citation(s) | [2021] HKCFA 3 |
| Transcript(s) | text |
| Case history | |
| Prior action(s) | HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying, HCCP 727/2020 HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying, HCCP 738/2020 |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | Chief Justice Andrew Cheung; permanent judges Roberto Ribeiro and Joseph Fok; non-permanent judges Patrick Chan and Frank Stock |
| Case opinions | |
| Decision by | Chief Justice Andrew Cheung |
The Court of Final Appeal displaced the presumption of bail in common law and Hong Kong's Criminal Procedure Ordinance. The CFA held that, with regards to national security offences, the Hong Kong national security law (NSL) carves out a specific exception from the bail regime; the presumption in Article 42(2) of the NSL (NSL 42(2)) being that no bail should be granted. Hong Kong Courts can only consider granting bail if the Court finds sufficient grounds to believe that the accused would not continue to commit offences endangering national security.