雙語社評齊齊聽

[英語 (足本收聽)]

[普通話 (足本收聽)]

WHEN hearing a case of contempt of court concerning the occupation of Mong Kok, the High Count found itself having to deal with an unexpected event as Tang Linling, a woman from the mainland, snapped pictures inside the courtroom. Tang has been jailed for seven days and ordered to pay nearly $200,000 in punitive legal fees.

[ENG audio 1]

In the court case in question, a number of people were accused of violating the court's injunction during the 2014 clearance of the Mong Kok occupation. Last month the prosecution opened its case, during which Tang took pictures and uploaded them to the Internet. Her phone contained at least three such photographs, clearly showing the defendants and the counsels for both the prosecution and the defence. In her defence, Tang claimed that she "extremely respected" the court and the judge. She came to the court to observe the proceedings with the sole intention of knowing more about Hong Kong's legal system. She took the pictures only because she wanted to flaunt her presence in a Hong Kong courtroom. However, Tang's actions were apparently in violation of the rule that no photographs shall be taken in a Hong Kong courtroom. Tang cited the differences between Hong Kong's legal system and that of the mainland as her defence, claiming that her photo-taking was a "trivial matter". However, institutions and practices vary from place to place, and it is important to "do as the Romans do". Differences between the two legal systems cannot be cited as the reason for paying no regard to court rules in Hong Kong.

[ENG audio 2]

The case of contempt of court during the occupation of Mong Kok was not heard with a jury, but some other cases heard by the High Court are. If everyone paid no regard to court rules and took pictures at will, the jurors would, inevitably, be worried that their identities would become known to the public and they could be under heightened stress. This could influence the ruling and undermine the rule of law in Hong Kong. For the first time in Hong Kong, the court has handled a case of contempt of court involving photo-taking in the High Court. As evidence is overwhelming, the court has had to make good use of the case to send a clear message to society: the legal procedures are not to be tampered with. Tang had it coming. Sentenced to seven days of imprisonment and $200,000 in fines, she has paid dearly for her wrongdoings.

[ENG audio 3]

Recently, several incidents have happened involving the taking of photographs in court. The most outrageous of such incidents happened last month, when the court was hearing the riot cases in Mong Kok. When the jurors were deliberating, the judge said that the judiciary had received an email with a photograph of four jurors attached. The email was clearly aimed at intimidating the jurors and challenging the authority of the judiciary. Given the fact that at the beginning of the proceedings, someone claiming to be a mainland visitor took pictures and sent them to others via WeChat, some people associated the two incidents with each other. In all fairness, there is no evidence at the moment that the photograph attached in the email was taken by the mainlander — it could have been someone else. Those on the outside do not understand the motives of the picture-taker and the email-sender. It remains unknown whether they want the defendant to be punished harshly or exonerated.

[ENG audio 4]

Given the increasing number of conducts of contempt of court, which is undermining the authority of the judiciary, the courts should punish heavily those offenders who maliciously interfere with court proceedings and denigrate the judiciary both in words and in deeds. People across the political spectrum should also care about the need to safeguard the rule of law in Hong Kong. They should not apply a double standard when contempt of court is concerned.

[ENG audio 5]

香港法治須維護 藐視法庭不可長

高等法院審理佔領旺角藐視法庭案節外生枝，內地女子唐琳玲在法庭拍照，衍生另一宗藐視法庭案，最終唐被判囚7天，兼要支付近20萬元懲罰訟費。

[PTH audio 1]

2014年佔旺清場，多人涉嫌違反法庭禁制令。上月控方開案陳辭，唐琳玲在庭內拍攝並上傳照片，其手機內有最少3張照片，清晰拍攝到庭上答辯人、控辯雙方律師容貌。唐琳玲辯稱對法庭和法官「非常尊重」、「沒有任何藐視心態」，對事件表達悔意和道歉；法官陳慶偉亦相信，唐一心來旁聽，是想了解香港法律制度，拍照目的只為向內地朋友炫耀在香港法庭聽審，然而唐的行為，明顯違反法庭「不准拍攝」規定。唐琳玲以香港與內地法律差異作為自辯理由，形容拍照是「小事」，然而各處鄉村各處例，需要入鄉隨俗，兩地司法制度差異，並非毋須遵守本港法庭規則的理由。

[PTH audio 2]

雖然佔旺藐視法庭案，並非由陪審團處理，然而高院審訊不時會有陪審團，如果人人不理法庭規矩，隨便拍照，陪審員難免憂慮身分曝光，心理壓力大增，有可能影響裁決，損害本港法治。今次是本港首宗針對高院法庭拍照的藐視法庭案，證據充分，法庭有必要利用這次機會，向社會發出清晰信息，不容干擾司法程序。唐女自惹官非，換來7天牢獄和罰款20萬元，是一次代價高昂的教訓。

[PTH audio 3]

最近本港高院也發生多宗庭上拍照風波，最令人側目的是上月旺角暴動案，陪審團退庭商議期間，法官表示司法機構收到一封電郵，內附一幅攝有4名陪審員容貌的照片，電郵內容明顯有威嚇陪審團、挑戰司法機構權威之意。由於案件開審之初，曾有自稱內地遊客的人，在庭內拍照並以微信傳送相片，有人將兩件事扯在一起，惟平情而論，目前沒有證據，證明電郵照片就是該內地人所攝，拍照者也可以是其他人；外界也不清楚拍照者和發送電郵者的動機，究竟是想重判還是想讓被告脫罪。

[PTH audio 4]

藐視法庭行為愈來愈多，有損司法權威，對於惡意干擾和詆譭司法言行，法院應予重罰，遏阻歪風。不同政治光譜人士亦應以維護本港法治為念，勿以雙重標準看待藐視法庭行為。

[PTH audio 5]

明報社評2018.06.05

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Mr TSANG, William Wai-sum

Associate Division Head

周文駿

講師

www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/staff_directory/language_communication/CHOW,_Raymond_Wen-chun-92.html

【Bilingual Editorial】