TNAG-0396-FCO40-442-Problem-of-increase-in-crime-in-Hong-Kong-1983 — Page 152

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of a violent criminal offence and a person injured by reason of a natural disaster. We discussed whether it would be appropriate to apply the scale in the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance, but decided that such a scale would be unworkable because it would be impossible to assess compensation for persons who were not wage earners. In reaching our conclusion that the scale of compensation paid to victims of crimes of violence should be similar to the scale paid to victims of natural disasters, we bore in mind that the Community Relief Trust Fund scale for those injured or disabled is adjusted to keep it in line with the scale paid for injury or disability under the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance.

4.

We then discussed whether the rates of compensation payable to persons killed or injured when assisting the police or trying to prevent the commission of a crime should be higher than the recommended 50% increase over the scale payable to other victims of crimes of violence. We decided that, as an incentive to the public to assist in the prevention of crime, the Board should have a discretion to pay up to twice the amount of the Community Relief Trust Fund scale to persons killed or injured in such circumstances depending upon the degree of the victim's efforts to prevent crime. We re considered paragraph 14 of our Report and decided that section 95 of Cap 1 should be retained, so that Government could, in special circumstances and on the recommendation of the board, pay an additional amount of ex gratia compensation to a person who has been particularly heroic and is injured in attempting to keep law and order.

5.

We then debated the question whether the rates of compensation payable to a person killed or injured by a law-enforcement officer using a weapon in the execution of his duty should be the same scale as the Community Relief Trust Fund. We decided that in such circumstances it would not be appropriate for compensation to be paid on the same scale as the Community Relief Trust Fund for the following

reasons :-

(1)

(2)

(3)

Government has a moral obligation to pay to victims killed or injured by Government officers a greater sum than that awarded to victims of criminal offences;

if the victim can prove negligence by à law-enforcement officer, the victim will receive a fixed amount of compensation from the board and may then have to take civil action to recover any balance due to him in damages under common law;į

if the victim cannot prove negligence by the law-enforcement officer, it would be unfair to award compensation to him on a lower scale than that awarded in (2).

16.