HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1953
The work done by the Magistracies in the year under review shows a large increase over previous years. The total number of prosecutions and summonses came to 266,819 as against 206,233 for 1952.
In last year's annual report, the satisfactory feature emer- ging from the figures supplied by the Magistracies was the decrease in the number of juvenile offences. For 1953, the same gratifying decrease is maintained as can be seen from the following figures:-
Convictions against juveniles
In 1951
In 1952
54,372
34,920
29,068.
In 1953
Civil jurisdiction in the New Territories is exercised by the District Commissioner and his District Officers, who have powers similar to those of the Supreme Court. Most of the litigation concerns land. The respective District Officers sit in the market towns of Yuen Long and Taipo. They also hear debts cases.
Tenancy Tribunals. During 1953, there was a great increase in the number of cases as compared to previous years. In 1951, 659 were filed and in 1952 there were 1,466. In 1953, however, this figure had risen to 2,098. This increase was mainly due to certain amendments introduced during the year into the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, whereby certain Tenancy Enquiry Bureaux were set up under the direction of the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. These bureaux are designed to help the public to find out what rents are properly payable. As a consequence, many applications have been filed with the Tenancy Tribunal not only to determine the rents payable but also to adjust other differences and compose the quarrels which the Enquiry Bureaux are unable to resolve.
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