XN000022-1984-07-25 — Page 21

19

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 1984

AMENDMENTS IMPROVE JURY SYSTEM

*****

THE HON BILL BROWN TODAY DESCRIBED THE JURY (AMENDMENT) BILL 1984 AS AN IMPROVEMENT TO THE PRESENT SYSTEM.

SPEAKING AT THE RESUMED DEBATE ON THE BILL IN THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, MR BROWN SAID THAT HE HAD BEEN A CRITIC FOR SOMETIME, NOT OF THE JURY SYSTEM ITSELF, BUT OF THE +LUDICROUS POSITION+ WHERE HONG KONG HAD AN ACTIVE JURY LIST OF ONLY SOME 25 000 NAMES FROM A POPULATION OF OVER FIVE MILLION PEOPLE.

MOREOVER, HE SAID, THE SMALL JURY LIST INCLUDED MANY FOREIGNERS WHO WERE FREQUENTLY CALLED UPON TO SERVE WITHIN ONLY A FEW MONTHS OF RESIDENCE HERE.

+THIS IN ITSELF DOES NOT MEAN THEY DO NOT MAKE GOOD JURORS, BUT CULTURAL DIFFERENCES DO EXIST AND IF ONE IS TO BE JUDGED BY ONE'S PEERS, THEN THE LONGER JURORS HAVE BEEN RESIDENT IN THE COMMUNITY THE BETTER, HE ADDED.

POINTING OUT THAT THE BILL WOULD EXTEND THE JURY LIST TO MANY MORE OF HONG KONG'S CITIZENS, HE SAID, IN THESE DAYS WHEN WE ARE ALL TALK ING OF THE NEED FOR MORE DEMOCRACY, WE SHOULD REMEMBER THAT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC HAVE DUTIES AS WELL AS RIGHTS.+

THE PROVISIONS OF THIS BILL WOULD ENABLE MANY MORE PEOPLE TO DISCHARGE ONE OF THE DUTIES ASSOCIATED WITH HONG KONG'S SYSTEM OF LAW, AND IT WAS RIGHT THAT THEY SHOULD BE CALLED UPON TO DO SO, HE SAID.

ON THE ISSUE OF THE LANGUAGE OF HONG KONG'S LAW, HE SHARED THE VIEW OF A CORRESPONDENT TO AN ENGLISH NEWSPAPER THAT THE QUESTION OF THE FUTURE OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE IN LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL ACTIVITIES HERE HAD TO BE SQUARELY FACED,

+I UNDERSTAND THAT THE JOINT COMMITTEE OF THE HONG KONG BAR ASSOCIATION AND THE LAW SOCIETY, FORMED TO CONSIDER THE FUTURE OF OUR LEGAL SYSTEM, WILL ADDRESS THIS IMPORTANT ISSUE.

+MANY WILL AWAIT THE RESULT OF THE IR DELIBERATIONS WITH INTEREST, FOR ALTHOUGH THE CONTINUED USAGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAY BE DESIRABLE FOR MATTERS RELATING TO OUR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES, IN OTHER AREAS AN INABILITY TO SPEAK ENGLISH SHOULD NOT FORM A BARRIER TO JURY DUTY, HE SAID.

HE EXPRESSED THE HOPE THAT IN THE LONGER TERM, CIRCUMSTANCES WOULD ALLOW NON-ENGLISH SPEAK ING CITIZENS ALSO TO SHOULDER JURY DUTY.