Hong Kong High Court judge Wilson Chan caught plagiarising judgement for third time

Hong Kong High Court Judge Wilson Chan faces renewed accusations of plagiarism, marking the third such incident within the past three years. The plaintiff in a recent case accused Chan of lifting substantial portions of the defendant's opening and closing arguments, which constituted 95% of the final judgment. This case involved a dispute over HK$40 million in shares between Koo Ming-kown, founder of Nam Tai Electronics, and his former brother-in-law. Following Koo's loss in the initial trial, he appealed, arguing that Judge Chan had failed to properly analyze the case and had instead copied large sections of his brother-in-law's submissions. The Court of Appeal agreed with Koo's assessment last week, overturning the original decision and ordering a retrial before a different judge. This ruling highlights concerns about "judicial copying" and the integrity of legal judgments. This is not the first time Chan has been implicated in plagiarism. In 2023, reports emerged that he had copied the majority of a plaintiff's written submission in a trademark dispute case. In another instance that same year, Chan plagiarized most of his ruling in a case concerning the real estate giant Great Eagle Holdings. In both these prior cases, the Court of Appeal ordered retrials, with judges noting that Chan's judgments gave the impression he had not exercised his responsibilities and had uncritically accepted the winning party's arguments. In the Great Eagle Holdings case, appeal judges found that 92% of Chan's judgment was plagiarized. These repeated instances of plagiarism have led to significant repercussions. The Court of Final Appeal's chief judge, Andrew Cheung, issued a "serious reprimand" to Chan for "judicial copying." Consequently, Chan was removed from presiding over the government's application to ban the protest song "Glory to Hong Kong," with another judge taking over the case. Hong Kong Free Press has sought comment from the Judiciary regarding the latest plagiarism allegation.

“

Those paragraphs comprised 95 per cent of the judgement he delivered, local media reported on Monday.