The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal issued a unanimous judgment Thursday holding that people cannot be convicted of rioting or illegal assembly if they are physically absent from the scene.
The appeal centered on whether the city can prosecute rioting and illegal assembly crimes under the common law doctrine of joint enterprise. Examining sections 18 and 19 of Hong Kong’s Public Order Ordinance, the court found “taking part” to be a necessary element of the crimes.
The judgment stated that “[joint enterprise] cannot be relied upon to fix liability as a principal offender on a defendant who was not present and not acting as part of an assembly together with others so assembled, as required by the two sections.”