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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
1956 and 1,410 for 1957. These applications are brought under the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, under which an applicant, wishing to obtain exemption from the Ordinance in respect of certain buildings, brings proceed- ings before a tribunal for that purpose. These tribunals con- sist of a president (who has legal qualifications) and two lay members chosen from a panel appointed by the Chief Justice. During the year no less than 171 of these lay members rendered valuable service on the tribunals.
A new sphere of work was introduced when the Adoption Ordinance was passed in 1956. During 1957 93 adoption applications were filed.
In the Probate Department a continued increase in work is reflected in the following figures of grants made: 386 in 1955, 452 in 1956 and 478 in 1957.
POLICE
The many and varied tasks of the Hong Kong Police Force are multiplied by the rapid development of the Colony and increasing density of population. The problems of the Force encompass those usually associated with a major sea- port and city. Continuous vigilance, redeployment of duties and reassessment of ideas and methods are demanded by the ever extending network of business houses and com- mercial undertakings supplying the needs of the Colony, by the expansion of modern and progressive industrialization and by the resettlement of a large section of the community.
Despite the swift-moving changes that occur and which necessitate constantly revised methods to deal with specific problems, in Hong Kong as elsewhere the beat Constable is a familiar part of the daily scene. A great part of his training is devoted to stressing the necessity for co-operation with the public, and this, together with the growth of civic- mindedness, has resulted in the Force obtaining increased help from the public in combatting crime and maintaining law and order.