2
evidence that it was resulting in injustice or delay.
was
said
Second, it
that it would be a difficulty to find sufficient
commercial impartial
in adjudicators
the close-knit business
community of Hong Kong.
The Ad Hoc Group recognized that the strong feelings against the Bill made additional public consultation necessary. On 1 May 1985, the Second Reading of the Bill was deferred on the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Group, and a Select Committee was appointed to examine all aspects of the problem of complex commercial crime, not only the mode of trial. This first Select Committee had only a very short period to
period to consider a difficult and complicated problem and, as a result, it recommended that a new Select Committee be appointed in the 1985-86 session of this Council to consider further the appropriate measures to be taken concerning the prosecution and trial of complex commercial crimes. The 1985 Select Committee also noted that the new Select Committee would be able to make use of the Fraud Trials Committee
that the recommendations of Report (Roskill Report) but Report would need to be considered in the context of Hong Kong.
that
a
Our Committee first met on 19 December 1985 and agreed to hear a presentation by the Attorney General's Chambers of an actual complex commercial crime case pending the receipt of the
Roskill
After Report.
the receipt of the Roskill Report,
series of
sessions were conducted eight public
in order to
receive evidence from the
the Attorney General's Chambers, the Hong
Bar Association, Kong
the Law
of Society
and Hong Kong
the
Commercial Crime Bureau of the Royal Hong Kong Police. An invitation to submit written evidence was sent to organizations and individuals in Hong Kong to seek their views, and that
also published was
in two
two Chinese English and
In
the addition to the public sessions,
Committee
invitation
newspapers.
met privately on 14 occasions and also visited the Supreme Court to attend a session of a complex commercial crime trial and to hear the views of the Chief Justice.