CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
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English statute ought generally to adopt a construction of the English statute which has been approved by the Court of Appeal. Nor can it be doubted that as a general rule Colonial courts will follow statements of the Common Law by the Court of Appeal and the Court of Criminal Appeal, for such statements have indeed very high persuasive authority. But I should be sorry to think that we were bound to follow decisions of those courts blindly.' In that case the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong preferred the arguments of the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Court of Ontario.
Judiciary
The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary. He is assisted in the discharge of his administrative duties by the Registrar and Assistant Registrars of the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice, the Justices of Appeal and the Judges of the High Court are appointed by Letters Patent issued under the Public Seal by the Governor on instructions from the Queen, conveyed through the Secretary of State. District judges are appointed by the Governor, by instrument under the Public Seal, and magistrates by the Governor by warrant.
The Judiciary tries all prosecutions and determines civil disputes, whether between individuals or between individuals and the government. The principle of English constitu- tional law, that in the performance of their judicial acts members of the Judiciary are completely independent of the executive and legislative organs of the government, is fundamental in Hong Kong.
The courts of justice in Hong Kong are the Court of Appeal, the High Court, the District Court, the Magistrates' Court, the Coroner's Court, the Lands Tribunal, the Small Claims Tribunal and the Labour Tribunal.
The Lands Tribunal's jurisdiction was expanded in June 1982 to include landlord and tenant matters in pre-war buildings which were formerly dealt with by the Tenancy Tribunal. The Tenancy Tribunal was then abolished. The jurisdiction of the District Court over landlord and tenant matters in post-war buildings, such as possession cases, was also transferred to the Lands Tribunal later in the year. The financial jurisdiction of the Small Claims Tribunal was raised in February. It now deals with monetary claims involving amounts not exceeding $5,000. The procedure followed is simple, informal and legal representation is not allowed. The Labour Tribunal continued to provide speedy settlement of individual money claims arising from contracts of employment.
Magistrates exercise criminal jurisdiction over a wide range of indictable and summary offences. Their powers of punishment are restricted to a maximum of two years' imprison- ment or a $10,000 fine for any one offence, unless the law in regard to any particular offence prescribes that they may impose some higher penalty. Cumulative sentences of imprisonment imposed by magistrates, for two or more offences tried together, may not exceed three years. More serious offences are dealt with by the District Court. Upon application by the Attorney General a magistrate will simply order that the case be transferred to the District Court for trial.
The most serious offences, such as murder, manslaughter or rape, are dealt with by the High Court. A magistrate will hold a preliminary inquiry, in the course of which he will hear the oral evidence of witnesses or consider their written statements, or both. If he is satisfied that the whole of the evidence reveals a prima facie case against the accused, he will commit him to the High Court for trial.
Two full-time Cantonese-speaking lay magistrates were appointed in March to deal with minor offences of a routine nature, such as hawking, fixed penalty traffic cases and simple