recently described this as one indication that 'the administration of justice is viewed in this part of the world as of secondary importance and with contempt'.'
,,22
at the
In magistrates' courts there is no legal aid at all, even though a magistrate can pass sentence of up to three years' imprisonment. The 1973 District Court (Amend- ment) Act fits into a pattern of colonial government: an increasing tendency towards swift, authoritarian measures. Juries, defence lawyers and interpreters all take time and money, so the easiest response is to do away with them expense of the accused. About the same time the police issued to foreign diplo- mats a slim volume entitled "Notes on Security" containing tips on how to protect themselves;23 amongst other things the pamphlet urged diplomats to keep their backs to the wall in corridors and lifts, stay away from balconies and be especially vigilant for suspicious people in the street. This move was followed in mid-June by a month-long "Fight-Crime Campaign" which, while doubtless leading to the arrest of a few petty criminals, concentrated on encouraging informing and clearing up some of the anomalies which had begun to threaten the business com- munity. The "Fight-Crime Campaign" was both sinister and a diversion from the real problems of the Colony. As a special correspondent of Le Monde com- mented:
"What will remain when all the posters have disappeared? . . . In any case, none of the problems facing the colony will be solved. The rackets and the gangs will continue to affect thousands and thousands of inhabitants in their every-day lives... Citizens will still hesitate to inform the authorities, who give them little if any protection. Drugs, which already poison the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, will continue their ravages. But none of this will affect those who live in Hong Kong's 'affluent society'."24
A few statistics give an indication of the situation. In 1973 it was officially estimated that there were 80,000 triad members in Hong Kong.25 Even according to the government, these gangs have been getting increasingly violent, and attrac- ting more young members. In one year, 1972, 11 of the 23 branches of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in the Colony were robbed. One 84-flat tenement building experienced 41 armed robberies just on the staircases and in the lifts in the first half of 1972. In October 1972 the Governor told the Legis- lative Council that violent crime (murder, manslaughter, serious assaults and rob- bery) had risen by 135% in 4 years and that the proportion of young people com- mitting these crimes had been steadily on the increase, too." This refers, of course, only to reported and recorded crime. A detailed study of the situation concluded that there is widespread under-reporting of crime.27 In addition, numerous activi- ties which would be considered criminal offences in the UK, such as publishing fraudulent prospectuses, unaudited company accounts, or employing child labour are all tolerated and even encouraged in the Colony and do not figure in the "crime" statistics at all.
26
On the issue of police corruption little need be said. Simply to recall the two most famous recent incidents is enough. In July 1973 it was discovered that former Chief Superintendent Peter Godber had quietly left the Colony the previous
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