Justice Chief Wants To Stop Private Cases: Ted Hui

Democratic Party lawmaker Ted Hui said on Wednesday that he believes Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng is paving the way to stop the private court cases he is bringing in relation to anti-government protests, after she took to her blog to explain the various reasons why she might have to intervene in such prosecutions.

Cheng said in her blog that private prosecutions are an important feature of the common law system, but they can be open to abuse, for example, brought for political motives.

She said there are various reasons why the Department of Justice (DOJ) would have an obligation to step in and discontinue a case, for example, if it's not in the public interest, or if it's being brought for the wrong reasons.

Her comments come as lawmaker Hui is pursuing a number of protest-related private prosecutions, including an attempt to get a conviction against a policeman who shot a young protester with live ammunition last November.

The legislator said Cheng barely mentioned how the ability to bring a private prosecution is a safeguard for the public's basic rights, and he questioned her comments on how there can be no political considerations at play.

"If you look back to all the documents ever issued by the DOJ, and by the director of public prosecutions, politics was never an element when it came to abusing judicial procedures," Hui said.

"I believe that Teresa Cheng is paving her way to intervene so that all the prosecutions against the government can be taken over."

People Power lawmaker Ray Chan, meanwhile, has accused Cheng of putting pressure on the courts to reject such cases. He has filed an application for a private prosecution against pro-Beijing rival Kwok Wai-keung over an alleged assault in Legco last month.

But New People's Party legislator Eunice Yung, who is a barrister, says there is no reason for any concern about the DOJ taking over or even terminating a private prosecution. That's because anyone who disagrees with such a move can contest it in court, she said.