The penalty for kidnapping should be raised to life imprisonment (rather than to a specified term of years)
because :
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Publicity
It should be in the category of second gravity crime like rape, robbery and arson rather than third gravity like burglary and blackmail;
To raise the penalty to 20, 25 or 30 years would be inconsistent with the underlying rational scheme of penalties for major crime in our law, and might be seen by the public, if done in isolation, as an undesirable differentiation from other grave crimes;
The thought in the mind of the criminal that the penalty for murder is the same (if life imprisonment is made applicable to kidnapping) is likely to be insignificant as a motive for killing the victim compared with the fear of detection simpliciter, so that to make the maximum penalty a determinate sentence is unlikely in practice to save lives;
The public, including criminals, are likely to perceive the penalty for murder (a commuted life sentence) as being more severe than that for kidnapping, since most kidnappers in practice will be sentenced to less than the maximum of life imprisonment;
The possibility of imposing a very long sentence for deterrent purposes in an exceptionally bad case would best be faci- litated by the present proposal.
14
A press release will be issued on gazetting.
G.S. 84
Advice Sought
15
Members will be asked to advise whether the Offences against the Person (Amendment) Bill 1982, at Annex A, should be introduced into the Legislative Council.
(The Director of Criminal Investigation (Royal Hong Kong Police) Mr P.J. CLANCY and the Assistant to the Attorney General Mr W.R. MARSHALL will attend before the Council for the discussion of this item).
2 April 1982
(SCR 1/2801/81 II)
COUNCIL CHAMBER
RESTRICTED