XN000022-1996-10-28 — Page 2

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Government proposals on report on arrest

The Government has proposed a number of measures arising from the Law Reform Commission (LRC) Report on Arrest as part of its on-going efforts to improve the criminal justice system.

Announcing the proposals of an inter-departmental working group on the LRC Report today (Monday), a government spokesman said: "In examining the report, we endeavour to strike a balance between the need for effective law enforcement and the protection of rights of individuals."

The spokesman noted that among the 61 major recommendations in the Report, the working group had accepted 30 in full, 21 in principle with adaptations taking into account existing law enforcement practice and local situations.

"After thorough examination, the working group did not accept six recommendations which were considered unnecessary, impracticable, and would weaken unjustifiably the existing law enforcement capability," he said.

The remaining four were technical amendments consequential to proposals which the working group had rejected.

The spokesman said the Government would conduct a two-month consultation exercise from today to seek the views of the community.

The Legislative Council Panel on Security, the Fight Crime Committee, district fight crime committees and district boards will receive copies of the consultation paper as well as briefings by government officials.

Members of the public can obtain copies of the paper from district offices from tomorrow (Tuesday).

The working group broadly agreed with the following key principles of the Report:

Powers to stop and search - Safeguards should be adopted to avoid possible abuse of power to stop and search. Law enforcement officers should explain the object and the grounds of any search and keep proper record of every search;