ATV legal blow a matter of balance

The Court of Final Appeal said the Communications Authority struck a reasonable balance when it prepared a draft report.迷你倉庫 The authority accused the majority shareholder of Asia Television, Wong Ching, of having de facto control over the broadcaster in violation of the Broadcasting Ordinance. The three-man court comprising Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, permanent judges Patrick Chan Siu-oi and Robert Tang Ching yesterday handed down their written decision giving reasons for earlier rejecting an ATV application to appeal against publication of the report. The authority began investigating ATV after it received a letter from an anonymous complainant in June 2011. The investigation focused on whether Wong had been exercising de facto control and management of ATV, even though another person held the majority shareholding, and the station had an executive director. The majority shareholder was merely a Wong nominee, the authority discovered. Its compilation was based on ATV documents and accounts given by members of senior-level staff whose identities were kept secret. The judges poi儲存ted out that it was necessary to protect the identities of insiders in the report for fear of reprisals. They also said the report had allowed limited disclosure of information to ATV so that it could make focused and meaningful representations. ATV, through its solicitors Baker & McKenzie, objected to the report, based on the non- disclosure of the full extent of the materials from the staff it interviewed. The authority was prepared only to provide a redacted summary of the evidence, which was provided to the solicitors. It said it had struck ``an appropriate balance between the need for confidentiality and ATV's entitlement to be informed of the main points of the interviewees' evidence.'' The court said the authority ``had conducted a balancing exercise in which confidentiality was a relevant consideration and then having reached the decision that only limited disclosure should be given.'' The judges added that the authority could go ahead and publish the report. ATV was ordered to pay all legal costs incurred for bringing the case to court. staff.reporter@singtaonewscorp.com 新蒲崗迷你倉