106 THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 4TH FEBRUARY, 1899.
1.
Governor to appoint Visiting Justices. (Ibid, n. 18.)
Release of prisoner on payment of portion of fine.
[Compare 61
and 62 Vic. c. 41, s. 9.]
Repeals. Saving
clause.
in the Government Gazette, and shall from the date of such publication be binding on all persons in the same manner as if they had been contained in this Ordinance. But every such rule or repeal or alteration of a rule may be disallowed by Her Majesty, and shall thereupon cease to have effect from the date of the publication of such disallowance in the Government Gazette. Until rules shall have been made under this section the rules and regulations for the govern- ment of Victoria Gaol in force at the commencement of this Ordinance shall remain in force so far as they are not inconsistent with anything contained in this Ordinance.
20. The Governor shall from time to time appoint, with their consent, Justices of the Peace to be Visiting Justices for periods to be specified in such appointments.
Visiting Justices shall, during the period for which they are appointed, from time to time at frequent intervals visit all prisons, and hear any complaints which may be made to them by the prisoners, and shall report on any abuses within the prisons, or any repairs that may be required, and shall further take cognisance of any matters of pressing necessity and within the powers of their Commission as Justices, and do such acts and perform such duties in rela- tion to prisons as they may be required to do or perform by the Governor, but subject to the regulations with respect to the duties of Visiting Justices to be made by the Governor in Executive Council under this Ordinance.
21. Where a person is committed to prison for non- payment of a sum adjudged to be paid by the conviction of any court of summary jurisdiction, then, on payment to the Superintendent of the Victoria Gaol or to such per- son as he may authorize, or to the First Clerk at the Magistracy, of any sum in part satisfaction of the sum so adjudged to be paid, and of any charges for which the pri soner is liable, the term of imprisonment shall be reduced by a number of days bearing as nearly as possible the same proportion to the total number of days for which the prisoner is sentenced as the sum so paid bears to the sum for which he is so liable:
Provided nevertheless that the provisions of this section shall not apply to any sum of money which is ordered to. be awarded to any person aggrieved by way of compensa- tion or amends for any injury, damage, or loss to his per- son or property.
22. Ordinances 18 of 1885, 13 of 1889, 15 of 1896 and 4 of 1898 are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not in any way affect any act, matter, or thing duly done under such repealed Ordinances or any of them.
Objects and Reasons.
The object of this Ordinance is to consolidate and amend the Prison Ordinances, 1885 to 1898, which are four in number.
The following are the amendments in the old law which have been introduced by the present Ordinance :--
(1.) Section 8 of the present Ordinance differs from sec- tion 7 of the Prisons Ordinance of 1885 in the omission of the word "warmed" which used to come between the word "lighted" and the word "ventilated."
is
The reason for the omission of the word "warmed that cells here are not as a matter of fact warmed at all.
(2.) Section 9 of the present Ordinance differs from section 8 of the Prisons Ordinance of 1885 in the follow- ing main respects :-
(i) By abolishing the rigid classification of hard labour into two classes which was laid down by the old Ordinance and which was found unworkable in practice and in leaving such classification to be prescribed by the Prison Rules and Regulations. (ii) The language of the old section as to the employ- ment of prisoners outside of the walls has been modified in accordance with the recommendation of the Captain Superintendent of Police.
(3.) Section 11 of the present Ordinance differs from section 10 of the Prisons Ordinance of 1885, in that the words "who escapes or attempts to escape from any prison or are now added,
17
The object of this amendment is to prevent difficulties from arising in the prosecution of prisoners who are caught while attempting to escape and who have not committed anything which could be described as a "breach" of prison.