**
Increase in
crime not. due to soft
-8 JUN 1673 SIL
sentences
-The Acting Attorney- General, Mr John Hobley, does not agree with criticisms that the rise in crimes, in Hongkong is attributed to lenient sentences meted out by the courts.
7
"The rise in crimes is attributable to relatively lenient sentences; one could argue about that for quite a long time. I don't accept wholly that proposition," he said last night.
Speaking on HK-TVB's Meeting the Press, Mr Hobley added: "There is always difficulty when you are looking from the outside to be sure you've not overlooked some factors which are known to the Judge or Magistrate in a particular case.
"They are left, and rightly left, to their discretion. They have a variety of punishments and courses open to them and they must be left to decide the matter for themselves."
Mr Hobley pointed out that 'the laws in the Colony are generally adequate to deal with crimes and they are kept under constant review.
Referring to the stop-and- search law, Mr Hobley said the answer to criticisms of the legislation is: "it is necessary in some cases and not in others."
or
But, he said, the law is necessary in Hongkong because of its dense population.
*Individual people are not known, or identified recognised in the same way as they may be in some other countries. The police force here is confronted with a large community which is constantly on the move," he explained.
Turning to criticism of the recently introduced tougher measures to curb rising serious crimes, Mr Hobley reiterated that they will be used only against hardened criminal and not petty thieves.
He said there had been much change in the trend of punishments in Hongkong in relation to corporal punishment, which was not used by the courts for some
time
the past.
He pointed out that corporal punishment worked in some cases as a deterrent.
On anti-corruption laws, Mr Hobley said they were generally adequate. "although there are one or two small areas at which we're having another look."
And, he added, the same was true of the anti-narcotics laws - the Dangerous Drugs Or- dinance.
GIE GRIME
Help prevent crime. Remember to lock your doors and secure all windows before you leave your home.
He said the police were constantly waging war against narcotics, but their efforts to try to bring the ring leaders to justice were hampered by the lack of direct evidence.
Commenting on a suggestion by the panelists to empower the police to examine bank accounts in order to track down the ring leaders, Mr Hobley said: “I don't think it will establish more than that he has a lot of money."
Such power, he added, had been exercised by the police in their investigations into corruption, but he declined to disclose whether such action had resulted in prosecutions,
"Action"
phase in 10 days
The community will be called upon to put into practice anti-crime measures when the "Action" phase of the Fight Violent Crime Campaign begins in 10 days'time.
A spokesman for the Campaign Office said the publicity build-up, which would continue until June 17, had been "intensive.”
"Dial 999, raise a hue and cry or report in person to a police station to give the facts," he urged.
had been used to get the advice over to the public.
He said that although the campaign was still in the publicity phase, there had already been an "encouraging" response from the public in the greater use of the 999 system and the hue and cry method when a crime had been committed.
"This augurs very well for the forthcoming Action phase,”
he stated.
He said the level of success achieved by the campaign depended a great deal on public response from June 17 onwards.
"The public clamoured for this campaign," he said, "and I am sure they will give their wholehearted support so as to make it a big success. A full- scale effort by the community will go a very long way towards ridding Hongkong of the menace of violent crime."
There have been four themes So far
dial 999, report crime, raise a hue and cry and protect
He said all publicity media your property.
Anti-
crime
8 JUN 1973 CM
bills slated
HIGH-RANKING Bar Association officials have met Legislative Councillors to oppose the four anti-crime bills.
The Bar Association six-man delegation was led by Mr Henry Litton.
They met all unofficial members of Legco to voice their objections over the crime bills.
The closed-door meeting was held at the UMELCO office. It was learned the Legco men have since setup a study group to probe the Bar Association's objections to the bills.
Amendments are expected to be made to the bills following the
talks.
It was also learned that Bar Association members hit out at all four bills during the meeting.
They particularly objected to the two bills which gave magistrates and district court judges more power.
They told Legco members the two bills would result in many people having trials without jury and many would also be missing out on legal aid.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.