My Take | Eye-opening court judgment a snapshot of issues that have plagued Hong Kong for years

The new year in Hong Kong will be dominated by the aftermath of the deadly Tai Po fire. There is a need to identify the lapses and loopholes, abuses and failures that contributed to the loss of 161 lives and the displacement of around 5,000 residents at Wang Fuk Court. Investigations are under way.

But the city’s resolution needs to go further. There should be a determination to eradicate the cavalier approach adopted to following rules, weak enforcement and cosy relationships between interested parties that blight other areas of Hong Kong life.

An eye-opening court judgment last week, concerning events that took place in a different time and context, provided a snapshot of the sort of issues that have plagued the city for years.

The landmark case involved a property deal in the New Territories which led to a developer and 11 villagers being jailed for up to three years in 2015 for plotting to defraud the government. This was the first prosecution concerning a common but illegal practice known as to ding in which developers collude with indigenous villagers to abuse the city’s “small-house” policy.

Three Court of Appeal judges quashed the convictions of the villagers, finding that their trial was unfair because defence lawyers had a clear conflict of interest as a result of also representing the developer involved.

Barrister Philip Wong Chi-wai and the solicitor who instructed him, Jim Yiu-ming, had failed to act in the best interests of the villagers, adopting a defence strategy that favoured the developer and a “wider circle of interests” concerned about the outcome of the case, the court found.