TNAG-0499-FCO40-564-Administration-of-justice-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 122

Aduntiatio of Justice

2.

It is to be hoped that further progress can be made with

the provision of legal aid in criminal cases. It is understood

that half of the trials before the District Court do not qualify

for legal aid and these presumably include some quite serious

offences where the accused may receive a substantial sentence.

That being so, it would seem desirable to take early steps to

extend legal aid to all criminal cases before District Courts.

On the

15. ↑ "There remains the more difficult question of trial by jury,

It is appreciated that there may well be no great desire for an

extension of the jury system among the Chinese population, and that the

the lack of suitable jurors is an important limiting factor. If

however it were feasible in any class of case to give the

accused an option for trial in the Supreme Court before a jury,

this would be a welcome development. It is appreciated that

such an option could hardly be introduced for a trial period and

it would be hard to estimate in advance how many accused would

opt for jury trial if given it. An alternative might be to

provide for the option of trial in the District Court by a judge

sitting with two lay assessors (eg local JPs), thougzetes

the difficulty of finding sui-

ipane ptozoolne. If provision could be made for committal

proceedings before trial in the District Courts, as before trial

Court

in the Supreme, this might prove helpful; and anything that

could reasonably be done to give offenders charged with more

serious crimes the chance of a jury trial would be welcome.

3.

[Iven werleaf)

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