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Legislative Council on 20th June and came into force on 22nd June. The views of the new Chief Justice were sought while the Bill was before the Legislative Council. He supported it, as did the Supreme Court Judges and the District Judges, whom he consulted. The Hong Kong Government is fully satisfied that this change is appropriate.
14.
The motion for the Second Reading of the Magistrates (Amendment) Bill has been further adjourned. During the past 4 months or so, while this legislation has been under consideration, there has been some improvement in relation to the number of criminal cases awaiting trial in the Supreme Court. This is attributable to the more extensive appointment of Commissioners - another course which was adopted to avoid a build-up of cases awaiting trial. This practice will be continued. During this period, the two additional posts of District Judge were also created.
15.
After consultation with the Chief Justice, it was decided that the Magistrates (Amendment) Bill could safely be postponed without prejudice to the interest which both the community and accused persons have in the early trial of criminal charges.
16.
Another factor was the view expressed by some members of the Legislative Council that legal aid should be available if an accused person whose case would under the existing policy have been trans- ferred to the District Court were tried summarily before a magistrate. This is an important question which requires careful study in view of the various, and sometimes conflicting, factors involved.
17. The Hong Kong Government is determined that there shall be no avoidable delay in the trial of accused persons and the position will be watched closely. The representations made by the Hong Kong Branch of Justice will, of course, be taken into account in any future examination of the matter. In the circumstances, I do not think it necessary to go in detail into the arguments for the increase in the sentencing powers of magistrates. Two points, however, must be made. Firstly, the maximum sentencing power of a magistrate on conviction for an indictable offence is now 2 years; the proposal was to increase this, in the case of a limited number of experienced magistrates who would be designated principal magistrates who would be designated principal magistrates, to 4 years (except for consecutive sentences for two or more offences). Secondly, all the permanent magistrates in Hong Kong are qualified lawyers. It is assumed, therefore, that the reference in the letter to there being no legal qualification for appointment refers to the fact that there is no statutory minimum period of practical experience. However, the new powers would have been given only to experienced magistrates, especially appointed by the Chief Justice. This seems to be a matter which could very properly
be left to his discretion.
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