;
a detention centre.
It is therefore proposed to make it clear
in the Bill that section 11(2) has no application to a person
convicted of an offence under section 33.
29. Some criticism has been made by the courts of the
fact that no detention centre is yet available for persons over
17 and under 21 years of age. However, the Colonial Secretary
recently announced that steps are being taken to convert a wing
at Ma Po Ping Addiction Treatment Centre for this purpose.
The training of the necessary staff to administer the new
detention centre, which will be used for offenders over 17 and
under 21, is now proceeding. It is expected that the new centre
will be able to take its first inmates by about June, 1973.
30. If the section is to be tightened, so as to ensure
that a mandatory sentence is imposed on anyone convicted of an
offence under section 33, it is important to ensure that there
is a clear and consistent policy in deciding which persons are
to be charged under it. It is felt that such a consistent
policy can best be achieved by including a provision that the
consent of the Attorney General should be required before a
prosecution under this section is instituted. (New section
33(5)).
31. The Chief Justice has urged that the powers which are
available to the courts to deal with a person convicted under
section 33 should be widened, so as to allow them to order
detention in a training centre, either as an alternative in
its own right, or as an alternative only if the Commissioner
of Prisons certifies that the convicted person is suitable
for a detention centre order but that a place is not available
for him in a detention centre.
of
32. If a training centre order could be made in the case
any offender under 21, this might very well mean that only
a small number of convicted persons under 21 would actually be