HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
18 October 1989
香港立法局 —————————一九八九年十月十八日
26
鄭德健議員問:主席先生,為了確保公正和保障市民大眾及受害者的利益,政府可否考慮設立一 個獨立的委員會,其成員包括非公務員的司法人員,以審核及監察律政司對一些特殊案件,例如 本案,作出檢控或不檢控的決定?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: I hardly think it is for me, Sir, to advise this Council whether a committee of inquiry should be set up to monitor my performance in the performance of my duties. But let me say this. The decisions that have been made in this case were made for the right reasons, based on the best possible advice and information available to the decision-makers at the time. There is absolutely no question of decisions being made otherwise than in good faith. There is no question of impropriety.
DR. LEONG: Sir, I refer to paragraph 4 of the Attorney General's reply: "That advice was that there was no crime with which Mr. HARRIS could be charged". Could the Administration inform this Council whether the fact that there was no crime to charge was due to lack of actual evidence as collection of solid evidence was stopped, apparently at the eleventh hour? If so, could this Council be informed why the collection of such evidence was suddenly terminated?
ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have already made clear, Sir, that leading counsel based his opinion upon all the evidence that was sent to us by the police. It is not for me to answer questions as to why the police decided to terminate their investigation when they did.
SECRETARY FOR SECURITY: Sir, let me answer the latter part of that question. The police decided not to proceed with the scheduled second meeting because they believed that a case already existed against HARRIS and that a second meeting would not have materially affected the circumstances of that case. At the time they sent their papers to the Attorney General they believed that evidence existed to show that he had already incited the procurement of a girl under the age of 21 for unlawful sexual intercourse.
MR. PETER WONG: Sir, could the Attorney General tell this Council whether there is any precedent whereby popular opinion can force him to reconsider his opinion and obtain a second opinion?
{
Page 30Page 31