6
pressures arose also from the publicity which the case was attracting and from the crowd of reporters and neighbours outside her door. Having concluded that the child might be in physical danger, it would have been irresponsible for the social workers to have walked away from the scene, without taking the decisive action that would enable both the mother and the child to receive the treatment and the care that they
needed.
10.
For the future, the Director has proposed that an amendment should be made to the Ordinance requiring the
Director or a duly authorised officer to apply for a search warrant from a magistrate before the power in section 44(1) to
enter premises could be exercised.
A provision of this kind
would help to allay one of the principal concerns expressed about the present case, and I am pleased to note that the UMELCO Panel has agreed that it merits serious consideration,
together with other measures.
11.
I should now like to turn to the procedures by which Ah-nui came to be placed in the Chuk Yuen Children's Reception Centre and Madam Wong came to be admitted to Kwai Chung
Hospital. After the break-in had been effected, the
departmental staff felt that there were sufficient grounds for proceeding with the removal order and taking the child