THE COURTS, POLICE, PRISONS AND RECORDS
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There is an appeal from the Supreme Court to a Full Court, consisting of two or more judges as directed by the Chief Justice.
Under the Magistrates Ordinance, any person aggrieved may appeal to a judge from the decision of a magistrate. This form of appeal is heard by a single judge, who may direct that the appeal, or any point in it, be considered by the Full Court.
During 1959 the appellate jurisdiction once more had a heavy calendar, dealing with 613 criminal appeals and 29 civil appeals. In the original jurisdiction, 604 actions were instituted as against 657 in 1958. In the Miscellaneous Proceedings register, 283 appli- cations were entered as against 210 for 1958.-
In the Criminal Sessions of the Supreme Court, 30 cases were heard involving 46 accused of whom 35 were convicted.
The District Courts have jurisdiction to hear claims up to a value of $5,000 and a special jurisdiction in Workmen's Compensa- tion. The District Court Judges also have a criminal jurisdiction greater than that of Magistrates, which enables them to try certain cases which would otherwise have to be committed to the Supreme Court Sessions. The number of District Judges was, during the year, increased from four to five. The District Courts, of which there are three on Hong Kong Island and two in Kowloon, were once again fully occupied. The number of actions instituted totalled 4,986, which exceeded the total for 1958 by more than 530 cases and was a new record for any one year since the incep- tion of these Courts in 1953, the previous record total being 4,456 for 1958. In their criminal jurisdiction the District Courts tried 407 persons of whom 326 were convicted; this represents an increase of approximately 5% over the previous year.
There are Magistrates' Courts on Hong Kong Island, in Kow- loon, and in the New Territories. The courts in Kowloon hear cases from the whole mainland area south of the Kowloon hills. In the New Territories, there are courts in Tai Po and Ping Shan, with one magistrate dividing his time between both places. On Hong Kong Island, apart from the regular Magistrates' Courts, there is a Justices of the Peace Court, composed of two Justices of the Peace sitting together five afternoons a week. One of the Justices is usually a solicitor. During the year seventeen solicitors and forty eight lay Justices served in this Court.