TNAG-0258-FCO40-294-Legislation-relating-to-criminal-procedure-in-Hong-Kong-1971 — Page 89

NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN

W(B)L 51-7406

leave the court, but I am advised that this

fact is not, of itself, sufficient to justify

leaving the Section as it stands. One reason why it is required that verdict and sentence

in a criminal case should be announced in

open court is in order that not only the public, but in particular the relatives and friends of the accused may know and actually

see what has happened to the latter. It

would not be satisfactory to rely on such persons obtaining information from newspapers regarding the court's decision since :

(a)

the press might not report the result of the case;

(b)

the case might be reported only in a newspaper which the relatives and friends did not see;

(c)

(a)

(e)

the case might be reported in a newspaper printed in a language not known to the relatives and friends;

even if the judgment and sentence

were reported in a newspaper normally read by the relatives and

friends of the accused, they might

miss the item since the date on which judgment and sentence were to be announced might not have been

known to them; and

even if they saw the verdict in a newspaper, they might be doubtful whether it was a true report.

I would therefore ask you to reconsider this matter with a view to amending Section 122 (as well as Section 123) to provide for judgment and sentence always to be announced in open court.

4. With regard to your paragraph 8, more than twelve months have now passed since I asked in my Saving Despatch No.663 of 25 November, 1968, for steps to be taken to enact legislation to give effect to the amendments referred to above. It would be embarrassing

/ if these