in which we find ourselves. The hands of the Police are tied and their utility often impaired by
the necessary however well fitted to the place which
adherence of our Courts to rules, which
gave
their birth have little practical value here. Their result
often is that cases
of importance fall through where
had a little more discretion been placed in the
hands of the judge, convictions must have been
inevitable.
9. Under these circumstances I regard present Ordinance as decidedly a step in the right direction and the power it entrusts to judicial officers will I think if exercised with discretion be found entirely beneficial. I have accordingly no hesitation in recommending it for the sanction of
Her Majesty.
I have the honor to be
My hand
—
Your most obedient Servant
—
—
James Gardonell
Governor
(Copy)
531
Report of the Acting Attorney General
upon Ordinance No. 3 of 1872 entitled
14
"An Ordinance enacted by the
Governor of Hongkong with the Advice of the Legislative Council
thereof, to provide for the Oral Examination of Prisoners."
This Ordinance was passed to supply
a very prominent defect in English Criminal Procedure then applied to Chinese offenders. Seeing as our Courts of Law mainly do here, with Witnesses and Prisoners, whose customs habits and modes of life and thought differ in an inexplicable degree
from our own, it is almost needless to say that the administration...