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The Hongkong Bar Association Special Committee's statement on-
1.3 MAY 1973 HKS
Crime and
.
punishment
THE following is a statement on the four Bills published by the Government on May 11, 1973.
The Special Committee of the Bar Association on Crime and Punishment is anxious to support any reasonable measures which may have the effect of keeping 'the incidence and rate of serious crimes within tolerable limits, and any genuine effort to enlist the support and "active cooperation of the public in the constant battle
against crime.
At the same time, in common with all the members of the legal profession, it is specially concerned to ensure the preservation and strengthening of adequate safeguards against the risk of innocent citizens being unjustly accused and convicted of offences against the law. The risk of becoming a victim of injustice increases every day through the growing tendency of the Legislature to extend the scope of the criminal justice, and through the opportunities for corruption and abuse of power on the part of powerful agencies of Government. By insisting upon adequate safeguards, members of the legal profession are not seeking to protect the guilty at the expense of the more law-abiding members of the community. All lawyers, as members of the community, have an interest in secing that proved criminals are made to account for their crimes. At the same time, they have a professional responsibility to see that innocent persons are not held responsible for crimes which they have not committed.
With these basic principles in mind, the Committee has given anxious and careful consideration to the latest proposals of the Government, contained in the four Bülls published on May 11. The Committee's comments at this time are confined to these specific legislative proposals, because the Committee, like the rest of the community, is still awaiting the balance of the Government's anti-crime package. Furthermore, the proposals herein considered fall directly within the Committee's sphere of professional competence.
Extension of the powers of magistrates
The proposal to increase the sentencing powers of magistrates from a maximum of two years' to a maximum of four years' imprisonment will have several serious consequences. More and
more people will be brought before the courts and be tried for serious offences, perhaps carrying mandatory sentences of Imprisonment, without the benefit of legal representation, since Legal Aid is not available in these courts. They will have no prior notice of the nature of the case against them other than the bare particulars of the charge. They will have to rely on the magistrate to make an accurate record of the evidence, because no shorthand writers are available. They will be tried by nugistrates whose previous experience has been largely, and in many cases exclusively, gained from appearing on behalf of the prosecution. Although they satisfy the minimum qualifications for appointment, few, if any, have the length of experience or maturity of age which is normally required of judges exercising comparable sentencing powers in England or elsewhere. There,
THE Special Committee on Crime and Punishment was established by the Hongkong Bar Association in January 1972 with membership drawn from members of the Bar, the facuity of the University of Hongkong, and others.
Although designed originally to undertake long-term research into such problems as sentencing policies and to collect and assess basic data, the Special Committee has now [wo functions: (1) sponsorship of reseach co-ordinated by the Centre of Asian Studies of the University of Hongkong and (2) policy considerations on relied topics by the Special Committee itself, composed mainly of members of the Bar.
The members of the Special Committee involved in the drafting of the present statement are: the following Barristers-at-Law: Gerald de Basto. Q.C., Chairman, Kemai Bokhary, Francis Eddis, M.H. Jackson-Lipkin, Martin Lec, Bernard Downey (ako Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Hongkong), John Rear (also Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Hongkong and academic adviser to the Special Committee), and Robert Wei: and the following members of the University of Hongkong facuity: Professor Frank H., King, Director of the Centre of Asian Studies, Miss Margaret Kinsey, Lecturer in Social Work, Revd. Erik Kvan, Dean of Facuity of Social Sciences and Senior Lecturer in Psychology.
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MR GERALD de Basto
P.TO.
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