LAW AND ORDER
Details of the work in the Magistracies can be seen
in the following table :---
Total number of charges
Hong Kong
Kowloon Total
69,026 55,607 124,633
Prosecutions
against
adults
and juveniles
106,044
170,533 276,577
Convictions against
adults
and juveniles
84,017
93,095 177,112
Prosecutions against juveniles
only
17,368
38,258 55,626
Convictions against juveniles
only
16,614
23,086 39,700
Summonses issued
17,895
23,279 41,174
Tenancy Tribunals
During the year under review, there was a sharp rise in the number of applications as compared with previous years. In 1951, 659 cases were filed and in 1952 there were 1,466. In 1953, there was an increase to 2,098, while in 1954 the number reached the formid- able total of 5,263. It appears that the majority of the cases are now brought to determine or reduce rentals, and there is no doubt that the amendments effected to the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance in 1953, and the publicity given to them through various channels, has resulted in a much larger proportion of the population becoming aware, and ready to avail itself, of its rights with reference to controlled rents. Despite the fact that the tribunals sat daily hearing these applications, many were left undetermined by the end of the year.
Police
The aftermath of the Shek Kip Mei fire at the end of 1953, followed by the Kowloon Tsai and other lesser fires in the densely populated squatter areas during
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