The Independent Commission Against Corruption says it respects the Court of Appeal's judgment that it acted lawfully in seeking search warrants in a media case, and that the issuing of the warrants was justified.

Chief High Court Judge Justice Geoffrey Ma said the court believed the ICAC "did no more and no less than they were entitled by law to do."

The commission earlier lodged an appeal over the decision of Justice Michael Hartmann of the Court of First Instance to set aside search warrants issued by the High Court, following an appeal by Sing Tao and one of its reporters.

Justices Michael Stuart-Moore and Frank Stock, who also heard the appeal, agreed with the judgment.

While affirming the legality of the warrant application, the court also found the issuing of search warrants entirely justified as the case was "serious".

Troubling scenario

The court said the case revealed "an extremely troubling scenario whereby the well-being or life of the participant in a witness protection programme may have been put at risk and the integrity of the programme potentially undermined".

The court also noted that Part XII of the Interpretation & General Clauses Ordinance contained important safeguards to protect basic press freedoms.

The judgment said the ICAC was not empowered by any law to exercise any sort of arbitrary power to effect search and seizure of journalistic material. 

The court said the case involved a balancing exercise between press freedom and the rights and interests of others or society as a whole.

The ICAC said it will take stock of the experiences of this case, and step up exchange with the media to strengthen mutual trust and understanding.