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If you want a sense of how certain Hong Kong magistrates are bulldozing rule of law, read this from Fanling magistrate Don So: Refusal of bail to a 13-year-old for obstruction of a public place, even though he has already been detained for 2 months.
I'll explain further...
I'll explain further...
Obstruction of public place (s.4A Summary Offences Ordinance) carries MAX POSSIBLE 3 months prison. A max sentence is only given if there are crazy aggravating factors, no mitigation. In reality most ADULT offenders get fine/probation. Our subject is 13..
https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap228?xpid=ID_1438402860974_002
https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap228?xpid=ID_1438402860974_002
Magistrate Don So has thus put a 13-y.o. child in pre-trial detention for longer than the MAXIMUM POSSIBLE sentence given to adults
Nevermind presumption of innocence/bail, this child already served time longer than legally allowed for a hardcore criminal with 100 prior offences
Nevermind presumption of innocence/bail, this child already served time longer than legally allowed for a hardcore criminal with 100 prior offences
The only parallel I can think of from a common law court — rather than some Iran court that executes kids habitually — is Gault (1967), where the US Supreme Court overturned a 6-year vocational school detention of a teen for public swearing, punishable by just a fine for adults
Gault was about due process to children as automonous individuals. On the other hand, if we want to get into why some Hong Kong magistrates are repeatedly breaching their powers and going against precedent, just take a breath of the zeitgeist: Every institution is fast collapsing
