Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr David Leung, assured officers at a briefing organised by Narcotics Bureau on April 2 that informer privilege had not been eroded by a recent Court of Appeal judgment. 

 

On December 31 last year, the Court of Appeal found that Section 57(2) of the Dangerous Drug Ordinance on protection of informer was unconstitutional. Since then applications for disclosure of the identity of informers were made in a number of proceedings.  Moreover, it was widely reported that the Court of Appeal's judgment would seriously undermine the Police's ability to fight serious crimes, including narcotics offences.

 

Explaining the nuances of the judgment and the relevant legal concepts in plain language, Mr Leung assured officers that the common law position on informer privilege remained applicable and that a police witness would not be compelled to disclose the identity of an informer unless the defendant could convince the court that in the absence of disclosure his or her right to a fair trial would be jeopardised.  

 

The briefing was very well received by about 430 officers. Those officers unable to find a seat in the Police Headquarters Auditorium watched the briefing in the PHQ Multi-purpose Hall via live feed.

 

Relevant material has been uploaded to POINT for officers' reference.