Editing Jury trial (section)

===China===
====Hong Kong====
{{Update section|date=June 2024}}
[[Hong Kong]], as a former [[Great Britain|British]] colony, has a common law legal system. Article 86 of Hong Kong's Basic Law, which came into force on 1 July 1997 following the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China provides: "The principle of trial by jury previously practised in Hong Kong shall be maintained."

Criminal trials in the [[High Court (Hong Kong)|High Court]] are by jury. The juries are generally made of seven members, who can return a verdict based on a majority of five.<ref>Ss. 3 and 24 Jury Oridnance</ref>

There are no jury trials in the [[District Court (Hong Kong)|District Court]], which can impose a sentence of up to seven years' imprisonment. This is despite the fact that all court rooms in the District Court have jury boxes. The lack of juries in the District Court has been severely criticized. Clive Grossman SC in a commentary in 2009 said conviction rates were "approaching those of North Korea".<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/the-hong-kong-legal-system-takes-chinas-road-to-justice/story-e6frg97x-1225804352064 | work=The Australian | title=The Hong Kong legal system takes China's road to justice | date=2009-11-26}}</ref>

Many complex commercial cases are prosecuted in the District Court rather than before a jury in the High Court. In 2009, Lily Chiang, former chairwoman of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, lost an application to have her case transferred from the District Court to the High Court for a jury trial. Justice Wright in the Court of First Instance held that there was no absolute right to a trial by jury and that the "decision as to whether an indictable offence be tried in the Court of First Instance by a judge and jury or in the District Court by a judge alone is the prerogative of the Secretary for Justice."<ref name="hklii">{{cite web|url=http://www.hklii.hk/cgi-bin/sinodisp/eng/hk/cases/hkcfi/2009/100.html|title=CHIANG LILY v. SECRETARY FOR JUSTICE &#91;2009&#93; HKCFI 100; HCAL 42/2008 (9 February 2009)|publisher=hklii.hk|access-date=2015-06-13}}</ref> Chiang issued a statement at the time saying "she was disappointed with the judgment because she has been deprived of a jury trial, an opportunity to be judged by her fellow citizens and the constitutional benefit protected by the Basic Law".<ref name="thestandard">{{cite web|url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?art_id=78017&con_type=1 |publisher=thestandard.com.hk |access-date=2015-06-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150615052822/http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?art_id=78017&con_type=1 |archive-date=2015-06-15 |title= }}</ref>

In civil cases in the Court of First Instance jury trials are available for defamation, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution or seduction unless the court orders otherwise. A jury can return a majority verdict in a civil case.<ref>.Ss 24 and 33A, High Court Ordinance</ref>

The government can issue a judge-only trial order under the [[2020 Hong Kong national security law|Hong Kong national security law]], in cases which contain "involvement of foreign elements", "personal safety of jurors and their family members" or "risk of perverting the course of justice if the trial is conducted with a jury".<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/23/hong-kong-tycoon-jimmy-lai-plead-not-guilty-national-security-case |title=Hong Kong tycoon Jimmy Lai to plead not guilty in national security case|work=[[The Guardian]] | access-date=2022-08-23 }}</ref>