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SOUTH
CHINA
MORNING POST ~~APRIL 11.1973
Alternatives to
capital punishment
The Governor's .'- cision not to grant a reprieve to a condemned murderer marks No How departure in Hongkong policy on capital punishment though it is at variance with practice over the last few years.
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It must be said immediately that it is regrettable that such a decision had to be made
if for no other reason than that many heinous murder cases have ended with Lar iesser punishments.
Yet the groving concern over the spate of violent crime in recent months and the increasing casualness with which murder was being perpetrated made it inevitable that the public would call for a strong and determined stand.
There has in recent months been a steady build- up in public pressure on the Government to carry out the death penalty; this is based on the prevalent view that Chinese rather than western concepts, of punishment should be observed in dealing with criminals.
We have in the past echoed this view in relation to longer prison terins though we share the doubts of those who argue that capital punishment over the centuries has achieved little as a deterrent.
The most it might do is to make a few foolhardy newcomers to crime think twice about carrying weapons.
By coincidence the House of Commons in London today is due to debate a private member's Bill to reintroduce capital punishment though it seems unlikely that in spite of an increase in crimes of personal violence in Britain there will be a majority in favour of a return even to limited use of the death penalty.
Certainly the Prime Minister, Mr Heath, and the Home Secretary, Mr Carr, are among the opponents though six members of the Cabinet are reportedly in favour of its reintroduction.
The view in Britain seems to be that the crime rate should be tackled by everything short of the death penalty; in other words increased police presence, a higher rate of detection and stiffer
sentences.
It is a view shared by many here and with a campaign against crime being mounted in the middle of this year under the able control of the Secretary for Information, Mr Jack Cater, there are high hopes that by involving the people in a big way it may be possible to reduce crime rates to acceptable levels.
We have argued in the past that it would be better to revoke capital punishment completely rather than to retain it as a threat of doubtful efficacy. We maintain this view today.
We believe this would liberate many jurors from their evident reluctance to bring in a verdict for which capitai punishment was the:' 'mandatory sentence.
Questions have been raised as to whether the jury system is the right one for Hongkong and whether there is not a better alternative which would enable the courts to impose sentences of greater consistency reflecting the gravity of the offence.
This deserves to be examined for while it is agreed that crime must be tackled at many other levels besides the courts the deterrent value of heavier sentences cannot be disregarded.
LAYE
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1-KK14/16!