Poon Siu-tung

Poon Siu-tung, also known as Tony Poon[1] (Chinese: 潘兆童; born 1967) is a Hong Kong judge. He has served as a Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court since January 2019.

In this Chinese name, the family name is Poon.
The Honourable Mr Justice
Poon Siu-tung
潘兆童
Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court
Assumed office
2019
Chief District Judge
In office
2012–2019
Preceded byPatrick Li
Succeeded byJustin Ko
District Judge
In office
2009–2012
Permanent Magistrate
In office
2002–2009
Personal details
Born1967 (age 55–56)
Hong Kong
Alma materUniversity of Hong Kong

Since October 2020, Poon has served as a Panel Judge handling interception and surveillance authorisation requests from law enforcement agencies.[2]

He is a member of the Executive Committee and the Digital Transformation Committee of the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention of Hong Kong.[3]

Poon studied in St. Francis of Assis College in Kowloon After that he received an LLB in 1990 and a PCLL in 1993 from the University of Hong Kong. He was called to the Hong Kong Bar in 1994 and was a barrister in private practice until 2002.[4]

Judicial career

In 2002, Poon joined the bench as a Permanent Magistrate.[5] He sat as a Presiding Officer of the Labour Tribunal from 2003 to 2005.[6][7][8]

Poon sat as a District Court Master from 2005 to 2006.[9][10][11] He sat as a Deputy District Judge from 2006 to 2009.[12][13][14][15] In 2009, he became a District Judge.[16] In 2010, he was made Acting Chief District Judge.[17] In 2012, he was appointed as Chief District Judge.[4][18]

Poon sat as a Deputy High Court Judge from 2014 to 2019.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]

In 2017, he was appointed as Judge with special responsibility for the Executive Body of the Hong Kong Judicial Institute. In this capacity, he is responsible for strategic plans and the implementation of judicial training programmes.[26]

In 2019, he was appointed as a High Court Judge.[4][27]

Poon has sat in the Court of Appeal in a number of civil and criminal appeal cases.[28]

As Poon shares the same surname as two other High Court Judges (Mr Justice Jeremy Poon (the Chief Judge) and Madam Justice Maggie Poon (a Justice of Appeal)), in English decisions he is referred to as 'S T Poon J' rather than 'Poon J'.[29]

Notable cases

In 2011, the trial of Stephen Chan Chi-wan in relation to the 2010 TVB corruption scandal took place in the District Court before Poon, who acquitted Chan and the co-defendants.[30] On appeal, in 2012 the Court of Appeal set aside the not guilty verdicts and remitted the case to Poon to consider if the defendants could rely on the defence of reasonable excuse.[31] In 2013, Poon ruled that the defendants could rely on such a defence and therefore dismissed the charges afresh.[32] On appeal, in 2015 the Court of Appeal once again allowed the appeal and directed Poon to convict Chan and his co-defendant (Tseng Pei Kun) on the charge of conspiring for an agent to accept an advantage and sentence them accordingly.[33] Poon subsequently sentenced Chan to a fine of HK$84,000 and Tseng to a fine of HK$28,000.[34] On further appeal, in 2017 the Court of Final Appeal overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal and re-instated Poon's original decision by quashing the defendants' convictions and acquitting them of all charges.[35]

In 2012, Poon heard a case in the District Court involving a Tuen Mun District Councillor who put up banners stating “Demand the Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness (ICCMW) to be relocated far away from Wu King Estate residents”. The plaintiff was a person with mental illness who argued that the Councillor had committed an act of disability vilification. Poon held that the banners incited hatred against people with disabilities, and ruled in favour of the plaintiff, whom he awarded nominal damages of HK$1.[36][37]

In 2013, Poon heard and dismissed an application by Lew Mon-hung in the District Court for a permanent stay of proceedings in respect of a charge of perverting the course of justice relating to a letter sent to the Chief Executive, Leung Chun-ying, and the Commissioner of the ICAC, Simon Peh, with a view to influence them to halt the ICAC's investigation against him.[38]

References
  1. FWD Life Insurance Company (Bermuda) Limited v Poon Cindy, CACV 181/2015, reported at [2019] 3 HKLRD 455, at para. 11; China Metal Recycling (Holdings) Limited (in liquidation) v UBS AG, CACV 384/2022
  2. "Government announces appointment of Panel Judge under Interception of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance". Government of Hong Kong. 23 October 2020.
  3. "Corporate Governance". Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong.
  4. "Judicial appointments". Government of Hong Kong. 11 January 2019.
  5. "G.N. 4010" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 27, Vol. 6, 5 July 2002)
  6. "G.N. 390" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 4, Vol. 7, 24 January 2003)
  7. Kwan Ka Man Blanche v Esprit Retail (Hong Kong) Limited, HCLA 160/2003, at para. 4
  8. 廖偉良 對 柏堅貨櫃機械維修有限公司 (Brigantine Services Limited), HCLA 26/2005, at para. 2
  9. "G.N. 2754" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 24, Vol. 9, 17 June 2005)
  10. "G.N. 6481" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 50, Vol. 9, 16 December 2005)
  11. "G.N. 4738" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 31, Vol. 10, 4 August 2006)
  12. "G.N. 15" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 1, Vol. 10, 6 January 2006)
  13. "G.N. 4120" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 27, Vol. 10, 7 July 2006)
  14. "G.N. 7542" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 48, Vol. 10, 1 December 2006)
  15. "G.N. 3406" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 22, Vol. 11, 1 June 2007)
  16. "G.N. 6097" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 40, Vol. 13, 2 October 2009)
  17. "Hong Kong Judiciary Annual Report 2010: Highlights of Events". Judiciary of Hong Kong.
  18. "G.N. 6185" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 38, Vol. 16, 21 September 2012)
  19. "G.N. 4" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 1, Vol. 18, 3 January 2014)
  20. "G.N. 5622" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 40, Vol. 18, 3 October 2014)
  21. "G.N. 4740" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 27, Vol. 19, 3 July 2015)
  22. "G.N. 1760" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 13, Vol. 20, 1 April 2016)
  23. "G.N. 2" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 1, Vol. 21, 6 January 2017)
  24. "G.N. 7187" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 39, Vol. 21, 29 September 2017)
  25. "G.N. 5013" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 27, Vol. 22, 6 July 2018)
  26. "Hong Kong Judiciary Annual Report 2018: Judicial Training". Judiciary of Hong Kong.
  27. "G.N. 429" Hong Kong Government Gazette (No. 3, Vol. 23, 18 January 2019)
  28. For example, 香港特別行政區 對 何年宋, CACC 259/2018, Busque Rovelyn Magayam v Torture Claims Appeal Board, CACV 379/2019, Mizanur Rahman v Torture Claims Appeal Board, CACV 170/2019, Re AB, CACV 89/2019 and Kundiana v Immigration Department, CACV 248/2020
  29. For example, HKSAR v Badamkhand Batchuluun, HCMA 75/2019
  30. 香港特別行政區 訴 陳志雲, DCCC 1214/2010
  31. 律政司司長 對 陳志雲, CACC 103/2012
  32. 香港特別行政區 訴 陳志雲, DCCC 1214/2010
  33. HKSAR v Chan Chi Wan Stephen, CACC 92/2013, reported in [2016] 3 HKLRD 186
  34. 香港特別行政區 訴 陳志雲, DCCC 1214/2010
  35. Secretary for Justice v Chan Chi Wan Stephen, FACC 11/2016, reported in (2017) 20 HKCFAR 98
  36. Tung Lai Lam v 梁健文, DCEO 1/2011
  37. "Significant Court Cases". Equal Opportunities Commission.
  38. HKSAR v Lew Mon-hung, DCCC 819/2013
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