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In March 1994, a working party appointed by the Chief Justice and chaired by Mr Justice Wong published a Report on Mentally Handicapped People Giving Evidence in Court. The working party also recommended the introduction of procedures, similar to those recommended by the Cross Committee, in order to allay the anxiety of mentally handicapped witnesses giving evidence in criminal proceeding.
As members of this Council are aware, the need for improved witness protection arrangements was considered by the Fight Crime Committee which made a number of recommendations in April 1993. Whilst many of the recommendations have been implemented administratively, a recommendation that a witness who is in fear should be able to testify by a live television link in a room separate from the courtroom requires legislation.
The two Bills I have referred to propose to introduce desirable changes in the law, but they are not the only measures being taken. The problems surrounding vulnerable witnesses are being tackled vigorously on a number of fronts. I would like to describe briefly the other measures which are being taken to deal with child abuse, the mentally handicapped, and witnesses in fear.
Mr President, this Administration is committed to combating child abuse through a comprehensive range of preventive and family support services. We will spend around $1.1 billion on family and child welfare services in this financial year, an increase of almost 20% over last year.
The handling and treatment of child abuse cases require multi-disciplinary cooperation, and a comprehensive set of guidelines has been compiled for use by the professionals concerned. A task force was set up last month to examine procedures and to work out guidelines to improve the handling of child sexual abuse cases. The Child Protective Services Unit of the Social Welfare Department has been charged with the operational and coordinating role in handling child abuse cases. The unit will be strengthened by more workers in this financial year to improve its capacity to protect vulnerable children. To promote better understanding of child abuse among different professionals and to tackle the problem on a district basis, the Social Welfare Department will set up multi-disciplinary district committees on child abuse in five districts in this financial year. The department has also set up a Public Education Sub- committee on Child Abuse to coordinate publicity and public education programmes on the prevention of child abuse. The first stage of the programme was launched last month focusing on educating the general public on the early detection and reporting of child abuse cases. In order effectively to implement the proposed legislative changes in handling child abuse cases in court, intensive training courses will be conducted for the various types of professionals concerned, to better equip them in this specialized area of work.