(b)
50
whether it will review the language proficiency required of jurors so as to ensure that trials can be conducted fairly?
Reply:
Mr President,
(a)
(b)
Section 4 of the Jury Ordinance (Cap 3) sets out the qualifications of a juror, including, inter alia, a knowledge of the English language sufficient to enable him to understand the evidence of witnesses, the address of Counsel and the Judge's summing up. The Judiciary has advised that if the understanding of certain terms is material to a trial or an inquest, the judge or the coroner will normally direct such terms to be explained to the jurors and explain the legal terms himself in his summing up. The Judiciary has no record of any cases where a new jury has had to be empanelled as a result of the jurors' poor standard of English.
The Judiciary is committed to put in place a framework which enables Chinese, along with English, to be used in all judicial proceedings in Hong Kong before 1 July 1997. In the light of this commitment, the need to maintain the proficiency in English now required of jurors is under review.
End
Services provided by public libraries
Following is a question by Dr the Hon David Li Kwok-po and a written reply by the Secretary for Recreation and Culture, Mr T H Chau, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
It has been reported that a recent survey by the Hong Kong Development and Strategic Research Centre shows that a lack of services is the reason given by most people for making little or no use of public libraries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: