20 Nov 2024法庭線#4255
47人案｜港首宗顛覆案判刑 戴耀廷囚10年 官裁4人屬首要分子、三級罰則不完全適用
The 47-person pan-democratic primary case was sentenced on Tuesday (19th). Three designated High Court judges found Benny Tai Yiu-ting and three others to be “principal offenders”, using 12 to 15 years’ imprisonment as the starting points for sentencing. After reductions for guilty pleas and assistance to the prosecution, Tai was sentenced to 10 years in prison, making him the defendant to receive the longest sentence under the National Security Law since its implementation in Hong Kong. The court said Tai was “in substance advocating a revolution”. Au Nok-hin and Andrew Chiu Ka-yin were sentenced to 6 years and 9 months and 7 years respectively.
The case is Hong Kong’s first subversion case. The judges partially accepted the defence’s position, saying that the defendants faced a conspiracy charge and that the sentencing bands under the subversion offence provisions had reference value, but were not fully applicable. The court also rejected the defence’s argument that the plan could not have been realised, saying the plan was not doomed to fail and that “610,000 citizens did not think so either”. However, it accepted that some defendants were ignorant of the law and reduced their sentences accordingly.
The convicted defendants received sentences ranging from 4 years and 2 months to 10 years. Claudia Mo, Jeremy Tam, Kwok Ka-ki and Fan Kwok-wai are expected to be released in the first half of next year, while Benny Tai and Owen Chow, who is serving a sentence for a riot case, are not expected to be released until 2032. Secretary for Security Chris Tang said the overall sentences reflected the seriousness of the case and that the authorities would study the judgment to decide whether to appeal the sentences of individual defendants.
Some defendants posted on social media. Wu Chi-wai said, “There is no need to worry; Chi-wai’s physical and mental condition are both good.” Leung Kwok-hung wrote a letter to his wife to convey his regards. Owen Chow said he was by no means optimistic about the sentence, but could still see hope. Gwyneth Ho wrote separately in English and Chinese, discussing the anti-extradition bill movement and then the present case.
民主派初選 47 人案周二（19 日）判刑，高院 3 名指定法官裁定戴耀廷等 4 人屬於「首要分子」，以判囚 12 至 15 年為量刑起點，在認罪及協助控方減刑後，戴被判囚 10 年，成為《國安法》在港實施至今刑期最重的被告，官指戴「實質上是提倡一場革命」；區諾軒、趙家賢的刑期分別為 6 年 9 個月及 7 年。
本案是香港首宗顛覆案，法官部分接納辯方立場，指被告面對的是串謀控罪，顛覆罪條文下的刑期分級有參考價值，但非完全適用。官另反駁辯方稱謀劃不可能實現，指謀劃不是注定失敗，「61 萬名市民也不認為如此」，但接納部分被告對法律無知而給予減刑。
罪成被告分別判囚 4 年 2 個月至 10 年，毛孟靜、譚文豪、郭家麒及范國威料於明年上半年出獄，而戴耀廷與正就暴動案服刑的鄒家成則料至 2032 年出獄。保安局長鄧炳強指，整體判刑已反映了嚴重性，會研究判詞決定會否就個別被告的刑期提出上訴。
有被告在社交媒體發文，胡志偉表示「不用擔心，志偉的身體和精神都好好」；梁國雄向妻子撰家書致意。鄒家成稱對刑期絕不樂觀，但仍見希望。何桂藍分別以英文及中文撰文，由反修例運動談到本案。
19 Nov 2024法庭線#4250
47人案判刑｜官接納本案涉及串謀控罪 《國安法》刑期分級非完全適用但可參考
In the case in which pro-democracy figures were charged with conspiracy to subvert state power, 45 convicted defendants were sentenced on Tuesday (19th). Dai Yiu-ting, described as the alleged mastermind of the primary election, was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, while the other 44 were sentenced to between four years and two months and seven years and nine months. Senior Counsel Stewart Kai Ming Wong, representing Dai Yiu-ting, argued in mitigation that this was a conspiracy conviction and that the sentencing tiers for the offence of subversion under the National Security Law did not apply. The prosecution argued that the minimum sentences under the National Security Law applied and that mainland Chinese law should be taken into account in sentencing.
A panel of three designated judges partly accepted the defence’s position. In their sentencing reasons, they said the defendants faced conspiracy charges and that the sentencing tiers under Article 22 of the National Security Law had reference value but did not apply in full. Citing the “Lui Sai Yu” and Ma Chun-man cases, they said the legislative intent of the National Security Law was to connect with, be compatible with and complement local laws. The court should consider both the National Security Law and common-law principles when sentencing, and should not rely on mainland sentencing precedents.
Across the sentencing reasons for the various defendants, only Dai Yiu-ting, Au Nok-hin, Chiu Ka-yin and Chung Kam-lam were classified as “principal offenders”. The other 40 were classified as “active participants”, but were not affected by the minimum sentences under Article 22 of the National Security Law. After sentence reductions for factors including guilty pleas and giving evidence, Au Nok-hin, Chiu Ka-yin and Chung Kam-lam were sentenced to between six years and one month and seven years, falling below the 10-year minimum sentence for “principal offenders”.
民主派被控「串謀顛覆國家政權」罪一案，45 名罪成被告周二（19 日）判刑，其中被指為初選主謀的戴耀廷判囚 10 年，其餘 44 人判囚 4 年 2 個月至 7 年 9 個月。其中代表戴耀廷的資深大律師黃繼明，在其求情陳詞時提出，本案是串謀定罪，認為《國安法》下顛覆罪的刑期分級並不適用； 控方則提倡，《國安法》最低刑期適用，又認為判刑時需參考內地法律。
三名指定法官部分接納辯方立場，在判刑理由指，本案被告面對的是串謀控罪，《國安法》第 22 條下刑期分級有參考價值，但非完全適用；又引「呂世瑜」及「馬俊文」案指，《國安法》立法原意為與本地法律銜接、兼容及互補，法庭在判刑時應同時考慮《國安法》及普通法原則，不應依賴內地判刑例子。
綜觀多名被告判刑理由，其中除戴耀廷、區諾軒、趙家賢及鍾錦麟 4 人被指屬「首要分子」外，其餘 40 人被歸類為「積極參加」者，但未受《國安法》22 條的刑期下限影響， 區諾軒、趙家賢及鍾錦麟 3 人因認罪、作供等因素減刑後，分別判囚 6 年 1 個月至 7 年，跌出「首要分子」10 年的刑期下限。
29 Oct 2024法庭線#4186
47人案｜罪成45人將判刑 司法機構網頁：11月19日早上10時開庭
In the case involving 47 pro-democracy figures charged with conspiracy to subvert state power, 14 people were found guilty after trial and 31 pleaded guilty. Mitigation submissions for all 45 defendants were dealt with in six batches from June to September this year, over a total of 12 days.
The Judiciary website showed on Tuesday (29th) that the case had been scheduled to come before the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts at 10am on 19 November for sentencing by the judge, with the hearing provisionally expected to take one day. The defendants were charged in March 2021, more than three years and seven months ago.
47 名民主派被控「串謀顛覆國家政權」罪一案，共 14 人經審訊後罪成、31 人認罪，今年 6 月 至 9 月已分六批完成處理求情，共歷時 12 日。
司法機構網頁周二（29 日）顯示，案件已定於 11 月 19 日早上 10 時在西九龍裁判法院開庭，由法官作判刑，暫定需時一天。本案被告於 2021 年 3 月被起訴，至今逾 3 年 7 個月。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
