SOUTH CHINA MORNING
JUNE
21ST
1973,
Рост
Litton slams crime
HICK 14/11:
campaign hysteria'
The Chairman of the Bar Association, Mr Henry Litton, yesterday accused organisers of the Fight Violent Crime Campaign of using "hysteria" tactics instead of normal debate.
He said: "It is not a question of whether one believes or does not believe in the Fight Violent Crime Campaign. This polarisation of the argument, to me, smacks of intolerance.
"It reminds me of the era of political repression in America back in the early '50s, when Senator McCarthy was allowed to run rampant and people were being required to sign pledges of loyalty and support. Liberal opinion was stifled as being un- American."
In a luncheon address to the Lions Club of Bayview at the Mandarin Hotel, Mr Litton said that in some ways the Government's spokesmen have been responsible for the heat and clamour generated from the debate
crime and punishment.
on
A few weeks ago a high- ranking police officer referred to the Government's critics as "professional police-baiters"
and "professional police- bashers.. who see nothing right in anything done by the Government or the police."
Mr Litton said: "It is a pity that the debate should at times degenerate to such low levels.
in Surely,
any healthy community, there is room for strong differences of opinion on subjects of common interest.
"I can understand the man of action, at times of stress, being impatient with arm-chair critics. I can understand the
MR LITTON
&
annoyance of the front-line soldier who feels he is not being backed from the rear.
up **But it becomes manifestation of hysteria when responsible and constructive criticism is brushed aside as 'police baiting' and 'police bashing'.
Mr Litton said the anti-crime campaign might have had a better chance of success if the root causes of crime had been tackled first, "and not in the spirit of a publicity stunt.'
场
The fields that needed tackling were the education gap, the lack of recreational facilities. open space "and many such matters which the Government recognises call for improvement."
He added: "It is also my submission that, however laudable the Government's overall aims might be, the Government was wrong to have introduced the laws to cut down trial by jury in Hongkong in spearheading the Fight Violent Crime Campaign.
"In the first place I cannot
see how it assists the campaign by tinkering with the machinery of criminal justice in the courts."
The new laws involved
increasing the summary jurisdiction of the district courts to seven years' imprisonment, and Mr Litton said that when a man has powers of imprisonment of up to seven years, it could not be said that this was the exercise of summary justice.
"We arc supposed in Hongkong to have a scrupulously fair judicial system which is the envy of most countries in the Far East. It is one of the reasons why. despite our delicate political position, we have been able to inspire such confidence from abroad.
"And yet the Government, along with the rock-and-roll jingles and the fanfares and the trumpets. is quite prepared to undermine one of the foundations of the common law system of criminal justice namely trial by jury. And this in the teeth of the strongest protests from the ex-Chief Justice. Sir Ivo Rigby."
The Government had confused two things: the trial process and the sentencing of convicted criminals, he said.
Not everyone brought up for trial is necessarily guilty, for the police. however well- intentioned, sometimes make mistakes.
Mr Litton said: "I сап understand the Government and the community wishing to be tough оп convicted criminals. I cannot, however, see why in achieving that
object, the rule of law in Hongkong has to be attacked by the Government.”
Mr Litton agreed that there had been an alarming increase in the number of robbery cases
from 1.600 in 1969 to 5,391 in 1972 and therefore a corresponding increase in the number of victims.
But it should not be forgotten that there has been an equally dramatic increase in the number of casualties of other sorts. In the same period workmen injury claims increased from 9,421 to 26,800, deaths through fire increased from 28 to 99 and fire damage increased from $20 million to $85 million.
Mr Litton asked if this meant that the community in those three years had become three times more indifferent to the safety of workmen at work and four times more careless in fire prevention.
treatment
the
"The leaders of community who demand draconian
for robbers and thugs seem only too ready to condone white collar middle-class crime.
"For instance, in the latest report of the Inland Revenue Department, the Commissioner alleged that the understated profits and salaries tax returns for the past year totalled $71 million. That is more than the combined total spent on social welfare and housing services.
"Is there an outcry against that? is there a campaign?" he asked.