TNAG-0604-FCO40-752-Capital-punishment-in-Dependent-Territories-1977 — Page 118

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

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Now, you will have heard Counsel on both sides

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address you.

Both were very forceful, both pointed out

things that they considered favourable to their side

of the story. They asked you to draw certain inferences.

Now that's what they asked you to do, but you are the

persons to decide the inferences, they make the sugges-

tions but you make the decision. You may even in the

course of my summing up here, hear observations from

when I go through the facts with you. But the

opinions of Counsel and my observations are not intended 10

to be directions to you. You must not consider that

anything I say is what you must accept on the facts.

You are free to accept or reject any observations of

mine on the facts. You only have to take my directions

on the law.

me,

Yours is the province of being the sole judges of

the facts. When you get together as no doubt you will

at the conclusion of this summing up, you will be

expected to reason together. Each one of you took the

oath individually, but you know the verdict is a

collective verdict, so you have got to reason together,

but you must not abandon your oath when you reason

together, but at the same time it is expected that as

you reason together there will be a measure of give

and take, but it all must be done within the scope of

your oath that you took individually.

The accused, Members of the Jury as I say now, is

not to be found guilty simply because you see him

sitting in the dock. The fact that he is sitting there

does not mean that he is guilty. In our law as he sits

there he is innocent, up to the time when you come with

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