XN000022-1995-05-10 — Page 40

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(b)

(c)

Government policy provides for the review of classified material. Government files are destroyed for record management purposes when they no longer serve a useful purpose.

A limited amount of material relating to the Standing Committee on Pressure Groups, principally concerning media questions and answers following its disbandment in the early 1980's, is still in existence. It was on the basis of this material that my predecessor and I answered questions on this subject in this Council on 15 June 1994 and 15 February 1995.

End/Wednesday, May 10, 1995

Defendants jumping bail

Following is a question by the Hon Simon Ip Sik-on and a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Peter Lai, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

Will the Government inform this Council of the causes of the substantial increase over the past four years in the number of defendants who have absconded after being released on bail and what steps will be taken in future to ensure that defendants do not abscond?

Reply:

Mr President,

Our computer system only started collecting data on court bail from the second quarter of 1992. The figures show that the number of persons who jumped bail has increased from 1,349 in 1992-93 to 1,814 in 1993-94, an increase of about 34%. However, we have to put the figures in context. On average, more than 22,000 defendants are granted court bail each year. The proportion of defendants who jumped bail is relatively small.

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