Kwok Wai-kin

Kwok Wai-kin (Chinese: 郭偉健; born 1959) is a Hong Kong judge. He has sparked controversies over his political remarks on his hearings.

Biography

Kwok was born in Hong Kong in 1959 and obtained Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) and Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (P.C.LL.) from the University of Hong Kong in 1981 and 1982 respectively. He was called to the Bar in Hong Kong in 1982 and was in private practice from 1983 until 1992 when he joined the judiciary as Permanent Magistrate in 1992. He was appointed Principal Magistrate and District Judge in 2012.

Kwok lost his identity card in 2004 and applied for the reissue, but requested to waive the HK$395 replacement payment due to the fact that he was going to replace the smart identity card according to the government programme. His request was however rejected by the Immigration Department. Controversies floated as the Justice and Immigration Departments did not prosecute Kwok for the matter. Chief Justice Andrew Li defended Kwok, saying that he did not abuse his status as magistrate.

Kwok has heard a number of prominent protest-related cases including one involving nine defendants charged with rioting during the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest in which he jailed 19-year-old Mo Jia-tao for more than four years – the heaviest of 10 sentences. Kwok rejected suggestions of political motivation raised during mitigation, such as the labelling of "a political demonstration" or the defendants’ alignment with localist ideas due to their frustration following the collapse of the 2014 Occupy protests. "Without doubt, the court will not join this political debate," Kwok repeatedly stressed. He also stressed the "collective responsibility" as each individual's mere presence "provided comfort, support and encouragement" to others at the scene.

In April 2020 during a hearing, Kwok expressed sympathy for tour guide Tony Hung for stabbing three people, in which one of them was critically wounded, in front of a pro-democracy Lennon Wall in a pedestrian tunnel in Tseung Kwan O during the anti-extradition protests in August 2019. Kwok said the defendant was himself "an involuntary sacrifice and a bloodstained victim hanging by his last breath" as the protesters had "ruthlessly trampled on his right to work, live and survive". Kwok also slammed protesters acting "like an army", beating people up and blocking roads, and was reminiscent of that seen during the Cultural Revolution who were no different from terrorists. Kwok praised Hung for "showing noble qualities" when he wrote to the court expressing his regrets. Kwok sentenced Hung 45 months in prison for the three counts of wounding with intent, an offence punishable by imprisonment for seven years. Prominent lawyers and pro-democracy activists raised concerns over Kwok's political remarks, questioning the light sentence was biased. Joshua Wong said he would consider filing a complaint with the judiciary.

Shortly after Kwok's remarks, judiciary made a last-minute switch before the proceedings on a protest-related case, replacing Kwok with Ko as the presiding judge, and would no longer handle such cases.