Legal men blast
13 MAY 1973 s.C.S.P. T
new crime laws
THE PROPOSED new laws to give teeth to the anti-crime campaign came in for mounting criticism yesterday from the legal profession.
Two organisations of lawyers and barristers criticised the new Bills which the Government published on Friday as a prelude to the start of the Fight Violent Crime Campaign.
The Hongkong branch of Justice said the new laws would "make considerable inroads into the liberty of the ordinary citizen" and for no valid reason.
The Bar Association warned that the extra powers to be given to magistrates under the new laws could lead to "gross injustices".
The campaign against crime officially starts tomorrow and will last for several months.
A batch of Bills published on Friday will give more power to the District Courts and to magistrates in sentencing people convicted criminal offences.
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The local branch of Justice (which is the British section of the International Commission of Jurists) voiced strong criticism of the new powers.
It said that an offender brought before the principal magistrate or a District Court would now face a sentence of either four years or seven years.
But he would not have:
The basic right of a jury trial or even the right to claim trial by jury.
the Any legal aid in magistrate's court and with very restricted legal aid in the District Court.
• Any detailed advance knowledge of the evidence to be given by the prosecution.
A complete record of the proceedings being made.
Justice disputed the Government's claim that the new measures were necessary because of the increased number of cases in the
Supreme Court and in the District Courts.
The Chief Justice has the power, it says, to appoint Commissioners to deal with cases in the Supreme Court and this power had been regularly used.
The Governor can appoint temporary District Court judges.
With these powers of appointment available the argument of pressure of work is demonstrably false" the Justice statement said.
"It can only be presumed that as these measures
have been introduced on the eve of the launching of the Fight Violent Crime Campaign they are aimed at giving the campaign an initial boost.
"Justice deplores the fact that the government and its legal advisers think that the liberty of the individual citizen is of less importance than a good publicity gimmick
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