A High Court judge had to call off the first hearing of a murder case last Thursday because a member of the jury asked to be released just minutes before the trial began, citing a poor command of English as his excuse.

The judge granted his request after talking to him about honesty and civic responsibility.

When she heard the young man's request, made in Cantonese, the judge asked him to say it in English the working language of Hong Kong's judicial system.

The man did as he was told and the judge concluded his English was good enough to serve jury duty.

But she eventually let him off the hook and disbanded the seven-member jury accordingly, after accusing the University of Hong Kong graduate of wasting taxpayers' money and failing to fulfil his civic duty.

(Hong Kong Headline Daily)