3.
THE EVIDENCE THAT CHILD LABOUR IS NOT INCREASING 1973-1975
The number of detected cases has increased:
1973
1974
1975
Cases Detected
251
303
349
Number of children
involved
286
412
350
Prosecutions
215
321
306
Convictions
202
313
298
The percentage of industrial undertakings inspected and illegally employing children are as follows:
1973
1974
1975
0.33%
0.27%
0.27%
4.
There is thus no evidence in these years of increasing
use of child labour, only of greater success in detection
REASONS FOR FAILURE TO CONVICT
The main reasons were the failure of child witnesses to
appear in Court, the closure of offending small factories and the subsequent disappearance of the proprietor and the lack of evidence of proven age.
5.
LEVEL OF FINES
The
The level of fines is a matter for the Courts.
regulations provide for a maximum fine of HK$5,000 for the offence of employing a person under the age of 14.
6. TRIAD SOCIETY INVOLVEMENT
There is no evidence of TRIAD society involvement in recruiting child labour. I believe there were allegations in an article in a Hong Kong post-secondary college periodical. This article was based on a survey which was apparently conducted in only 10 factories out of the total of 33,500 industrial undertakings. It can hardly be considered a reliable sample.