HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying

HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying
Judiciary of Hong Kong
CourtCourt of Final Appeal
Full case name HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying
Decided9 February 2021
Citation[2021] HKCFA 3
Transcripttext
Case history
Prior actionsHKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying, HCCP 727/2020
HKSAR v. Lai Chee Ying, HCCP 738/2020
Court membership
Judges sittingChief Justice Andrew Cheung; permanent judges Roberto Ribeiro and Joseph Fok; non-permanent judges Patrick Chan and Frank Stock
Case opinions
Decision byChief Justice Andrew Cheung

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.

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.[1]

  1. ^ "HKSAR v Lai Chee Ying (FACC No. 1 of 2021)". Legal Reference System. Judiciary of the HKSAR. Retrieved 23 February 2022.