1991-01-21 10:19 SECURITY BRANCH
852 868 5074 P.17
疲
fallen into desuetude,
11
and there was nothing more than Nothing was authorities having weighed competing
a pattern of discretion" not to prosecute.
said about the
interests.
In my judgment a case of abuse of the Court's The trial magistrate should process has been made out. have exercised her discretion to stay the proceedings.
Sentences
necessary
sentence.
In the light of what I stated above, it is not
consider to me
appeals
for
the
It would however be helpful for me
to The Queen v So Man-king (1989) 1 HKLR 142,
against
to refer
which was
a decision on the sentence on illegal immigrants.
Cons V-P said (at p. 146):
"The difficulty which faces courts in
such a
situation
is obvious.
The
legislature has decreed that it shall be a criminal offence to come into or remain in Hong Kong unlawfully, to be punishable by a substantial fine and imprisonment. courts must apply that law,
The
and this Court
On the
has laid down that a magistrate upon whom the principal responsibility falls in such cases, should regard sentences of 15 months as appropriate for most occasions. other hand the executive has ensured that for the past eight years the law should for the most part be a dead letter and that in particular, those in the position of the appellants should not be punished at all.
There
}