判決理由書／裁決書撮要(由AI生成)
以下撮要以AI生成及／或翻譯，內容以原來的判決理由書／裁決書為準。
The judgment states that on 18 August 2019, Defendant and seven others led a banner party from Victoria Park Gate 17 into an unapproved public procession along Causeway Road, Hennessy Road, Queensway and Des Voeux Road Central, ending on Chater Road. They carried a banner reading “Stop the police and gangsters from plunging Hong Kong into chaos, implement the 5 demands,” and chanted slogans declaring their right to procession without police permission. The Civil Human Rights Front’s notification for a public procession that day had been objected to by the police and upheld on appeal. Despite press conferences declaring a “water flow” dispersal plan, Defendant knowingly organized and participated in the unauthorized procession, which caused serious traffic and public transport disruption. No police enforcement or warnings were issued that day; arrests occurred eight months later.
The judgment applies that punishment must be commensurate with criminality; maximum penalties under section 17A(3) of the Public Order Ordinance are indicative and sentencing is guided by the offence’s severity and individual mitigation.
Defendant organized and led over 30 persons in an unauthorized assembly in defiance of a police ban, knowingly flouting the law, causing major public order and transport disruption; no lawful authority or reasonable excuse was available; constitutional challenges to section 17A were precluded by binding precedent.
The court finds no lawful authority or reasonable excuse for Defendant’s actions; the Public Order Ordinance’s notification scheme and sanctions are constitutional; operational challenges fail as no enforcement action occurred on the day to warrant proportionality analysis.
Defendant is convicted of organizing an unauthorized assembly contrary to section 17A(3)(b)(i) and knowingly taking part in an unauthorized assembly contrary to section 17A(3)(a) of the Public Order Ordinance. On each charge, Defendant is sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, to run concurrently.
查看完整判決理由書／裁決書
判刑理由書撮要(由AI生成)
以下撮要以AI生成及／或翻譯，內容以原來的判刑理由書為準。
The judgment states that the Defendants organised and took part in a public procession from Victoria Park to Chater Road on 18 August 2019 after the Commissioner of Police had objected to and banned that route, resulting in an unauthorised assembly of thousands carrying a banner and mirroring a prohibited march. Although presented as a dispersal plan under the invitation of the Civil Human Rights Front, the Defendants knowingly defied the ban in a premeditated challenge to police authority, causing widespread traffic and public transport disruptions across the city. They were convicted after trial (with two pleading guilty early) of organising and knowingly participating in an unauthorised assembly under the Public Order Ordinance.
The court applied established principles requiring punishment commensurate with the offence, deterrence of similar conduct, maintenance of public order, and social condemnation, drawing on relevant precedents for unauthorised and unlawful assemblies.
The court found that the Defendants, all prominent figures, had premeditatedly organised and led thousands to flout a police ban during the volatile 2019 protests, intentionally challenging law enforcement and causing significant citywide disruption, which warranted immediate custodial sentences.
The judge emphasised that freedom of assembly is constitutionally protected but subject to lawful restrictions regardless of political motive, and that large-scale unauthorised gatherings carry inherent risks that must be countered by deterrent penalties to uphold the rule of law.
Of the nine Defendants, two were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, one to 18 months, one to 8 months, and one to 10 months; two Defendants received 12 months suspended for 24 months, one received 8 months suspended for 12 months, and one received 11 months suspended for 24 months. All sentences on both counts are to run concurrently.
查看完整判刑理由書