34
Problems
5.7
A simple problem that has arisen is the very low level of fines that are available under this Ordinance. In sections 19 and 20 the maximum fines available are $5,000. These were set in 1964 and clearly, at that time, were meant to be quite severe. Current fines are no deterrent.
5.8
A significant problem, as far as the Police and prosecution are concerned, is the low level of sentences handed down by the courts. The Ordinance carries heavy maximum penalties [up to seven years' imprisonment] but these are unused by the courts. The low level is perhaps understandable. The Societies Ordinance was designed to counter triad societies of the type that were prevalent until the mid 1950s. The legislation took its present form in 1949 but laws against membership of triad societies date back to soon after the establishment of the Colony. Triad societies of today are less formal and ritualistic but more flexibly organised than their predecessors and retain their infamous reputations. As a result, courts find themselves dealing with offenders charged with membership of a triad society and regard it as a somewhat nebulous concept. Also, frequently, those prosecuted are youths with little or no previous criminal record. Judges are not keen to punish such persons severely simply for being members of triad society.
Options
5.9
In order to make the Ordinance more effective, three options are put forward for consideration -
(a) the fines imposed could be revised;
(b)
(c)
a change to section 22 could be made to remove the need for proof of the use of persuasion in the incitement, inducement or invitation of a person to become a member of a triad society; and
an amendment to section 20 could make an offence of a deliberate act or series of acts or words that would imply to members of the public that the person was a triad member.
5.10 As regards paragraph 5.9(a), many of the fines have remained unchanged since 1964, some since 1957. Clearly their effectiveness has deminished considerably over the years. A fine of $5,000 in 1964 is now the equivalent of some $50,000 in terms of the effect on the individual. The revision of these fines is in hand.