XN000022-1995-04-19 — Page 35

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Mr President, another aspect of the law relating to children that has caused concern is the maximum penalty for the offence of child abuse under the Offences Against the Person Ordinance. The question of whether the penalty should be increased falls outside the ambit of the two Bills I am introducing today but is currently under urgent consideration by the Administration as a separate exercise.

1 believe that the proposed amendments in this Bill will go a long way to assist vulnerable witnesses to give evidence free from intimidation and anxiety, thereby enhancing the proper administration of justice.

End/Wednesday, April 19, 1995

Evidence (Amendment) Bill 1995

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

Mr President,

I move that the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 1995 be read a second time.

The Bill proposes a change to the law of evidence which is considered essential to ensure that justice may be done in cases involving child witnesses. A moment ago, when introducing the Criminal Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1995, I explained that a problem exists in respect of the evidence of children. Under the existing law, children under seven years of age are not competent to give evidence, and unsworn evidence given by children under the age of 14 years must be corroborated by some other independent evidence before the accused may be convicted. This rule has been The Evidence recently described by one judge as a "child molester's charter". (Amendment) Bill abolishes the two rules I have described and provides that all children under the age of 14 years are able to give evidence unsworn. If a child is able to give relevant and understandable evidence, the court or jury will evaluate that evidence, even in the absence of other corroborative evidence, and decide how much reliance to place upon it.

I believe that these proposed amendments will, by abolishing unjustifiable technicalities, enable the courts to do justice in cases involving child witnesses.

End/Wednesday, April 19, 1995