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New laws 'show
3 JUN 1973 ELS
distrust of juries'
THE Government was yesterday criticised for showing lack of faith in the jury at the same time as they were seeking in the war against crime.
The Hongkong Law Journal in its latest issue
-4 JUN 1973 S.C.CP Kaifongs voice support
Better co-operation and understanding between police and public are most vital in the current Fight Violent Crime Campaign.
This was the opinion expressed by three leading kaifong leaders who among the first to pledge their support for the campaign.
were
They are Messrs Cham Siu-
, leun,HoSai-chu and Lee Wan- yuen of the Wanchai City District Committee.
Mr Cham said that many people are still not accustomed to the idea of reporting crimes at police station.
"More publicity should be made on the convenience of reporting crimes to the mobile reporting centres recently set up by the police," he said.
the
The President of Hongkong Amateur Basketball Association, Mr Cham planned to sponsor a basketball training course for young people this summer as a contribution to the campaign.
Being the Chairman of the Hongkong Council of Social Service, Mr Ho said he felt that Government should concentrate on finding long- * term solutions to curb crime.
"Reforms in our education system will help to supplement the fight crime efforts and schools devote more time to moral teaching," he said.
suggested the plan to widen the power of district courts showed a lack of faith in the jury in Hongkong."
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The editorial said the community had reached the stage in social development when a jury could be trusted to return a true verdict according to the evidence.
**The Government's apparent lack of faith in the maturity of the public who compose the average jury bodies ill for the anti-crime campaign," it said.
It said the district judge in criminal cases, under the new legislation, might have the power to sentence a man to five years' imprisonment without a jury.
This was far too heavy a responsibility for the District Court, it said.
"The anti-crime campaign is unlikely to succeed if there is some residual doubt in the minds of the public that the conviction of criminals is done by a process which is personal, chancy and despotic," it said.
It proposed that the summary jurisdiction of the District Court should be -limited and more cases should be sent to the Supreme Court for trial by jury.
It also suggested that trial by jury should be introduced in the District Court.
The editorial also doubted if the Government was determined to punish criminals harshly.
"It is surprising that, at a time when the public is calling for more severe sentencing and when the prosecuting authorities profess concern at the leniency of the sentencing policies of the judiciary.
"The Attorney-General continues to bring before the District Court serious offences such as cases of robbery with the aggravation where maximum penalty is life imprisonment," it said.
It also drew attention to the inability of the district judge, in the absence of recording facilities, to record evidence of the witnesses and at the same time perform the duty of the jury to observe and weigh the evidence given.
It brought up a recent case as an example in which the notes of evidence in the District Court as certified for the purpose of an appeal were found to contain obvious error.
It quoted Judge Huggins in the Full Court as saying, **I would go so far as to say that the certificate is dishonest because there is one manifest gap in the notes where presumably the typist was unable to read what was written."
Busy night for police
i
in Kowloon
A large party of officers from the Police Tactical Unit carried out
an overnight "stop and search" operation in various parts of Kowloon.
The operation, carried out shortly after midnight on Saturday, lasted until 8 am yesterday. Altogether 191 people were stopped and searched.
The officers also raided four buildings and located 3 suspected missing girl. She was taken to Mongkok police station for questioning.
Two aids were also carried out. And police seized 10 pots of opium.
A man was arrested for suspected theft during the operation.
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