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PUBLIC ORDER
Legislation was enacted in May, 1980, to provide for the supervision of certain young. offenders on their release from prison. This requires a supervision order to be made against a person who, before he is 21 years old, is sentenced to a term of imprisonment of three months or more and is released from prison before he is 25 years old. Supervision com- mences on the date of release from prison and continues for a period not exceeding 12 months.
Drug Addiction Treatment
The Prisons Department provides the only compulsory drug addiction treatment and rehabilitation programme in Hong Kong. The programme provides the courts with an alternative to prison for minor offenders who are drug dependents. The programme has achieved a success rate of 66.43 per cent since it came into law in 1969. Success is defined as the satisfactory completion of a one-year drug-free period of supervision after release,
without a further conviction.
There are three drug addiction treatment centres: Tai Lam Drug Addiction Treatment Centre (accommodation 508), which incorporates the young inmate centre; Hei Ling Chau Drug Addiction Treatment Centre (accommodation 1,008); and the drug addiction treat- ment section at Tai Lam Centre for Women.
An inmate of a drug addiction treatment centre is required to stay for a period of from four to 12 months, and is subject to one year's compulsory supervision following release. During the supervision period he can be recalled for further treatment if this is found to be necessary. The treatment programme is based on discipline, physical activity and the com- plete absence of drugs. Counselling plays an important part in the programme and helps inmates to develop self-confidence. Relatives are encouraged to visit as often as possible to cement good family relationships.
Medical, psychological and welfare services are provided, and job placement is arranged for those who have difficulty finding employment to go to on their release.
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Tai Lam Drug Addiction Treatment Centre provides accommodation for convicted people who have been remanded for reports on their suitability for sentence to a drug addiction treatment centre, as well as those sentenced to this form of treatment. Inmates in the centre are very much involved in community projects and, during the year, continued with the clearance of 20 kilometres of undergrowth and the construction of a 17.5-kilometre barbed-wire fence on the border as part of the barrier erected to keep out illegal immigrants. Many inmates of the Hei Ling Chau Drug Addiction Treatment Centre have long criminal records although their offences may be relatively minor. The open-air physical work under- taken includes running a farm and expanding the centre.
Female Offenders
On its opening in May, 1980, the Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution for young female offenders became the second women's centre to be administered by the Prisons Depart- ment. The institution, which was formerly used for young male offenders, is divided into two sections: a training centre and a prison for young women under the age of 21. It has accommodation for 160 inmates. The original women's centre, the Tai Lam Centre for Women (accommodation 287) continues to operate as a prison for adult women and as a drug addiction treatment centre. A security wing in the centre now accommodates all of the high-security prisoners who were previously housed in a separate section at the nearby Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre. The programmes in the training and drug addiction treatment sections of the women's institutions are similar to those in the institutions for men.