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Rights of crime victims given recognition
The Attorney General, Mr Jeremy Mathews, today (Tuesday) launched a victim's charter which sets out the rights of crime victims and their immediate family members as well as the standards of service they could expect from law enforcement agencies and government departments with which they come into contact.
Mr Mathews said for some time, he has been concerned that working of the criminal justice system in Hong Kong did not adequately consider the interests of victims of crime.
To improve their lot, he had set up an inter-departmental working group in February to explore the issue and to see what measures could be taken. As a result, a report was produced in August.
It was clear that a great deal of work was already being done to take account of the interests of victims, but there had been no overall co-ordination of these efforts, Mr Mathews said.
One of the principal recommendations of the working group is that a victim's charter should be published, together with information on other helpful leaflets, and details of complaint channels for those who feel services provided to them have fallen short of the standards they expected.
Copies of the Charter are now available at Police stations, public hospitals, and at government departments which crime victims are most likely to turn to for help.
Mr Mathews said it was in the interests of the criminal justice system that adequate consideration be given to victims of crime.
"Conscientious citizens who report a crime to the Police may not do so again if their experience is that they are inadequately informed of the progress of the cases; or if they have to attend court on numerous occasions because of repeated adjournments, for reasons which are not explained to them," he said.
"They may not report a crime again, if they are consigned to a waiting area at court alongside associates of the defendant they have come to court to give evidence against; or if the stress of a court appearance is made worse because of their lack of knowledge of the basis of trial procedure and its personnel."