The Court of Appeal has rejected the applications of 17 hawker control officers for leave to appeal against their convictions for conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

They were among 19 Food & Environmental Hygiene Department officers charged by the ICAC for not taking proper enforcement action against hawkers over obstruction offences at Yan Oi Court in Kwun Tong.

They were convicted of one joint charge of conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice at District Court last August, and were sentenced to jail terms ranging from three to nine months, suspended for one year.

Two of the 19 defendants abandoned their applications for leave to appeal.

The court rejected the 17 applicants' argument that the administration of the "course of justice" was restricted to judicial proceedings and was not referable to the enforcement action taken at the time of the offence.

The court found the acts of the applicants all had and were intended to have a manifest tendency to pervert the course of justice.

The applicants also argued that in carrying out the activities at Yan Oi Court, they were merely following the instructions and common practices.

Rejecting this argument, the court ruled that following instructions does not defend a criminal offence by itself.