“The Case of the Black Basin” is a well-known story of Bao Zheng, commonly known as Bao Gong. It was about someone much eviler than Chan Tong-kai. He killed a man, made a black basin with the remains of his corpse, and sold it for profit. The basin had landed into the hands of a scholar, and the ghost of the victim appeared during the night. He told the scholar about the cruel murder and asked him to address his grievance to Bao. The scholar once bumped into the killer on his way, so decided to continue the journey in the nights, and rest during the day. Eventually, the ghost of the victim managed to appear in front of Bao during one night outside the court when Bao was not in his official attire. Bao heard the case of the black basin in the night and brought the killer to justice.

It is, of course, a made-up story. Who would have thought, court hearings at night time have become so common since the anti-ELAB movement, and the record is being broken again and again?

From what I remember, the first hearing in the evening was the first appearance of nearly 100 defendants, who were represented by four attorneys, including me. All defendants have been detained overnight and rushed to court the next day. Even the police and Secretary for Justice could not finish their preparations promptly under these circumstances, never mind the defense attorneys. By the time the hearing began after waiting for all the defense attorneys to receive instructions in limited interview rooms, it was already in the afternoon. Then both the prosecution and defense delivered their statements. When we left the court after the first appearance, it was nearly 11:00 p.m., which has shocked everyone at the time. But if you mention that to anyone now, all you get would be a response, “tut! That’s nothing!”

Unfortunately, the night hearing record has been broken again. It has taken the court an unprecedented four days for the first appearance of 47 defendants recently. Back then, there was Bao who helped the black basin to get justice. But who would help the 47 people now? If it wasn’t for one of the defendants, who fainted at 2:00 a.m. on the first day, the hearing might have gone on for much longer. The Secretary for Justice chases after them relentlessly, to a point one of her main “fighters” was so hungry she threw a tantrum in court. Have they ever considered the physical and emotional well-being of the defendants?

In the past, the prosecutions would not object to the defendants’ bail application even in a riot case unless the prosecutions have substantial evidence. If they did, they would simply state their reasons, which would be responded to by the defense attorneys. Both sides would then discuss the bail conditions to complete the procedure. But the attitude of the Secretary for Justice is getting tougher nowadays. The prosecution representative in the PolyU (Hong Kong Polytechnic University) riot case did everything possible and gave detailed statements on each defendant to object to their bail applications. (I cannot disclose the contents of the prosecution’s “grand reasons” due to the restriction on reports of bail proceedings, but my peers who were waiting in the court lobby at the time all exclaimed, “do they have to?!” “That is crazy!!” “Did someone just fxxx your mother? Is it really necessary?” Of course, offending their country is much worse than offending their mothers for some people.) At 6:00 p.m. that day, the judge ended the hearing citing judgment could be affected in the evening and postponed the decision to the next day.

The judge could be right. When the case went to the District Court, the bail application has once again taken very long. The court clerk then announced at about 6:00 p.m. that the case would be postponed and continue at 8:00 p.m. The legal representatives all thought the applications could be successful as some morning cases were. However, the judge was getting impatient during the night hearing and expressed his wish to finish the hearing by 10:00 on more than one occasion. He even told the attorney, who was making a statement at the time, to hurry up. In the end, All applications have been rejected. The legal representatives could only say with dismay, “we shouldn’t have been so nice to him (the judge)!”

Unless you have Bao Gong on your side to ensure justice will prevail. Otherwise, the night hearing could only, bit by bit, wear the defendants off mentally. On that hearing day, I met Barrister Lawrence Lau, also “D16” (Defendant no.16). Soon after his own bail application has been granted, Lau went back to his familiar position and delivered his statement in court on behalf of his client. Many of our peers, including me, went to encourage him. He forced a smile and responded with his DJ-like voice, “*sigh*, I might not even be able to help myself!”

The above content is the author’s personal opinion.

(Progressive Lawyers Group https://hkplg.org/ - We are a group of Hong Kong lawyers dedicated to promoting rule of law, democracy, human rights, freedom and justice.)

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