TNAG-1212-FCO40-1515-Crimes-and-sentences-in-Hong-Kong--including-death-sentences-1982 — Page 90

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MEMORANDUM FOR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Offences against the Person Ordinance

(Chapter 212)

OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ̈(AMENDMENT) BILL 1982

A, B

At Annexes A and B are set out for Members' con- sideration the Offences against the Person (Amendment) Bill 1982 and the previous paper XCR (82)44 which was discussed and withdrawn for further consideration on 23 February 1982. The intention of this paper is to focus on several connected issues.

C

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Members will recollect that concern was expressed as to the possibility that increasing the penalty for kid- napping to life imprisonment might lead perpetrators to murder their victims because, as they might see it, no greater punishment would be involved. It was also suggested that consideration might be given to the offence of "child stealing" contained in Section 43 of the Offences against the Person Ordinance, (Chapter 212), and the appropriate penalty for it. This section, together with section 42, is set out in Annex C.

Origins of the Present section 42 and its Penalty

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In 1865 the Hong Kong Legislative Council con- sidered the English Offences against the Person Act 1861 and found that it did not include the offences of kidnapping and false imprisonment, for these were common law offences in England. It was felt that in Hong Kong there should be express statutory provisions covering kidnapping. The Hong Kong offence of kidnapping was inserted at this point immediately next to a section concerning abducting an heiress against her will with intent to marry her from motives of financial gain. The maximum penalty for this offence was 14 years' imprisonment and the Hong Kong legislature adopted the same penalty for kidnapping.

Rationale of Maximum Penalties

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Although both the English and Hong Kong legislatures have in the historical sense approached their task in a piecemeal way, there is nonetheless a coherent underlying philosophy about the appropriate penalty for different offences. The framework of penalties for major crime is as follows :-

G.S. 84

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