CO129-503-10 Petitions from gaol prisoners- method of procedure 6-1-1927 - 28-3-1927 — Page 6

No 8.

Jual KH.S. EFEB 18.

And 100

11 APR 1927

Sir,

RECEIVED

7 FEB 1927

COL. OFFICE

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONGKONG, 6th January, 1927.

D

I have the honour to address you on the

6

subject of petitions from gaol prisoners.

2. The procedure in this Colony is governed by

Prison Rule No.311, copy of which is enclosed, which permits

of the repeated petitioning by prisoners who have been over

one year in the gaol.

3.

The practice has been to warn a prisoner whose

petition has been refused that he will not be allowed to

petition again on the same grounds until a further year has elapsed, although he may petition at an earlier date on fresh grounds. If however a prisoner insists on forthwith

petitioning afresh on the same grounds, such further petition

is duly forwarded to the Governor.

4.

The result has been the repeated petitioning

by prisoners for release before the expiration of their sentence on grounds which have been fully considered when their previous petitions were refused.

5.

This persistence in submitting petitions,

which must inevitably be refused, entails a considerable amount of unnecessary work and I should be glad to be

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

LIEUTENANT COLONEL L. C.M.S. AMERY, M.P.,

&C.,

&c.,

&c.

informed