CO129-531-1 Magistrates Amendement Ordinance- 1931 2-10-1931 - 4-12-1931 — Page 2

1 You 425

In

Order NO 21

4/x

together with report-

by the. Attorney General

Subjeck to legal Obsons

? Sanction 27

Shul genere

4.12.31

2

In my opinion, the non-disallowance of this

Ordinance should be signified in the usual manner. At

the same time, I think the despatch should inform the

Governor that the Secretary of State has assumed that

it was not the intention of the amending Ordinance to

bring the law with regard to the evidence and statement

at a preliminary investigation of an accused person

into line with section 12 of the Criminal Jurisdiction

Act, 1925 (15 and 16 Geo.5, ch.86). Subsection (2)

of this section provides for the notification of the

rights of such a person with regard to the calling of

witnesses and the giving of evidence himself. This

notification is immediately followed by the words which

appear in inverted commas in section 73(1) of the

Hong Kong Ordinance No.3 of 1890. Subsection (5) of

section 12 of the English Statute provides that

immediately after complying with the requirements of

this section relating to the statement of the accused,

and whether the accused has or has not made a statement,

the examining Justices shall ask the accused whether

he desires to give evidence on his own behalf, and whether he desires to call witnesses; thus, by English law, the statement of an accused person precedes his

giving of evidence.

According to the Hong kong

Ordinance as amended, the evidence of an accused person

is given before he is allowed to make

statement.

Moreover