13 MAY 1073 RA
FR
UPROAR OVER CRIME LAWS
C
LEADERS of Hongkong's legal profession have condemned the Government's new "Fight Violent Crime" legislation, describing the laws as unjust, arbitrary and cynical.
A strongly worded statement from a Bar Association's Special Committee on Crime and
and Punishment yesterday expressed the astonishment of the influential association that "the Government should have sought to justify changes which are prejudicial to the liberty of the subject".
The committee is chaired by leading barrister and Queen's Councillor, Mr Gerald de Basto.
All four of the Bills gazetted on Friday were heavily criticised in the statement and were interpreted as part of the "growing tendency of the legislature to extend the scope of criminal law" which for many reasons increased "the risk of becoming a victim of injustice".
Meanwhile, the Hongkong Branch of the British International Commission of
· Jurists "justice", also issued a statement slamming the new laws granting increased powers to Magistracies and District Courts.
The statement said that offenders brought before the peripheral courts would now face sentences of four or seven years without:
"The basic right of Jury trial or even the right to claim trial by Jury".
Legal Aid in t Magistracy and with "very restricted" Legal Aid in the District art.
Any detailed knowledge of prosecution evidence. A complete record of the proceedings being made. In conclusion the statement deplored "the fact that the Government of Hongkong and its legal advisers think that the liberty of the individual citizen of Hongkong is of less support than a publicity gimmick".
In equally strong language, the Bar Association statement described the extensions of Magistrates' powers as enabling the prosecution to obtain convictions" with greater ease and "to increase the risks of completely innocent persons being wrongly convicted".
Withdrawal of legal aid "at best can only be described as cynical" said the statement. Later on the statement dealt with the measures to extend summary justice and stated: "This is not good government",
Corporal punishment proposed under the new laws had had no effect in the past according to the statement. "We see no reason to believe that our experience this time will be different".
On preventive detention the Bar committee was "convinced that it will fail to meet its declared objective". Pointing out that the system had been abolished in England in 1967, the statement said that it would probably.come to be used against petty criminals instead of the "big-time criminal".
The committee added that the lack of special facilities for preventive detention continued and saw "no signs that they are vailable or will be available for a long time to come.
Projudicial
to liberty
of citizens
Bar Assn
.