On Evidence
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Jun 22, 2020
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - DAY
PETER is reading a file.
PETER (V.O.): Although it's a trivial case, to prove the facts require a lot of legal knowledge on the law of Evidence.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I thought I was very good on Evidence. But issues of computer-generated documents with some human intervention are still testing.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Reading.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Perhaps, I should take every case as a re-learning opportunity to do better.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I don't know about the others, but it's my professionalism that counts.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Let me restart and do that structurally.
Act 2
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Peter checks a phone notification.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, someone shares an e-copy of John Bolton's The Room Where It Happened.
Peter scrolls down the phone screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Well, 579 pages. Let me just read the opening and the closing to get a feel of the author's message.
Peter begins to read.
FLASHBACK
INT. HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL DORMITORY - NIGHT (2003)
Peter (51) is reading some papers.
PETER (V.O.): There's so much background information to read before I can understand the contextual thesis.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): My appraisal would become the antithesis. And the class discussion to be facilitated by professors would synthesize all.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): That's how we can rise from the conventional wisdom and lead even in chaotic situations.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It's great that I've the opportunity to learn here. Grasping the thinking and performance skills boost my confidence level to create and deliver public value.
END FLASHBACK
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The controversial book evidences the existence or non-existence of certain facts of US administration.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In the epilogue, the author explains how the texts have been modified so that the information disclosed aren't classified ones.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): A reader's interpretation based on some primary facts should satisfy his or her curiosity as to what happened from that room.
Peter is distracted by a TV interview.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is being interviewed on TV.
Peter continues to watch.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, for the past 18 years, the ICC has 8 convictions and 3 individuals are serving their time.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Doing international criminal justice in an imperfect world order is tough.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When the ICC was established in 2002, I had stopped teaching the Law of Evidence. My focus was purely on intellectual property.
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, the ICC Rules of Procedure and Evidence have got only 225 rules and 98 pages!
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): In Hong Kong, the criminal procedure and rules of Evidence are elaborated.
Peter takes a deep breath.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - CONTINUOUS
Peter surfs the web.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Take the admission of documentary evidence from computer records as prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein under section 22A of the Hong Kong Evidence Ord. Cap 8.
Peter scrolls down the screen.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The nature and contents of the document, the particulars of any device involved in producing the document, the signature of a person responsible for the management of the relevant activities are all the mandatory conditions.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): And a document is taken to have been produced by a computer whether it was produced directly or (with or without human intervention) by means of any appropriate equipment.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The provision is quite exhaustive, attempting to foresee all the eventualities.
Reflecting.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When the going gets tough, only the tough get going. Let me re-examine the evidence of this case.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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