The Admissibility Of Evidence Obtained In Breach Of Constitutional Rights In Hong Kong

Abstract

This article examines the admissibility test in Hong Kong for evidence obtained in breach of a defendant’s constitutional rights. The objective is to better understand the legal principles which form the foundation of the three-element admissibility test formulated by Bokhary PJ in the Court of Final Appeal’s decision in HKSAR v Muhammad Riaz Khan. To achieve this objective, this article examines judicial and legislative developments of the admissibility test in Hong Kong and in other common law jurisdictions. The principle finding of this article is that the three-element ‘Riaz Khan test’ represents a welcome further development of the admissibility first test laid down by Ma CJHC in HKSAR v Chan Kau Tai.