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Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1995

Following is the speech by the Attorney General, the Hon Jeremy Mathews, in moving the second reading of the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1995 in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Mr President,

time.

I move that the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1995 be read a second

In the Policy Commitments I made last October, I told Honourable Members of this Council that one of the immediate issues I would address was a scheme to ensure that vulnerable witnesses in criminal cases can give their evidence without fear and without suffering emotional distress.

There are three classes of witnesses who are particularly vulnerable when giving evidence in criminal courts: children, those who are mentally handicapped and those who fear for their safety if they give evidence. These vulnerable witnesses may feel intimidated by the atmosphere of the court; upset by the presence of the offender and dismayed at having to give an account of the facts firstly to the police and secondly in court. An additional problem is caused by the rule that a defendant cannot be convicted on the unsworn evidence of a child, no matter how reliable it may be, in the absence of corroboration. Recently, serious concern has been expressed by the community, the courts, and Members of this Council about the law and procedure relating to vulnerable witnesses.

Mr President, these problems are being addressed by the Administration by way of two Bills: the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1995, which I am now introducing, and the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 1995, which I will introduce later this afternoon. The amendments proposed in these two Bills spring from recommendations made by three committees.

In September 1993 I set up a Committee on the Evidence of Children in Criminal Proceedings chaired by Mr I G Cross, QC. It was clear to me then that reforms were needed in respect of child witnesses. The Committee recommended that procedures similar to those set out in the English Criminal Justice Acts of 1988 and 1991 should be adopted in Hong Kong in cases involving children who are witnesses of offences involving sexual abuse, physical abuse or cruelty.