TNAG-1581-FCO40-2155-Hong-Kong-Commercial-Crimes-Bill-1986 — Page 28

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the changes it calls for some of which will require legislation make demands upon the investigating authorities, the judiciary, the Bar and the administration of the courts. It expresses the hope that the

Government will not shrink from implementing them.

Among a total of 112 recommendations for change, the

Committee calls for:

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substantial revision of the rules of evidence;

* for complex fraud trials, trial by judge and two lay members (the

"Fraud Trials Tribunal") should replace trial by judge and jury;

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the defendant's right of peremptory challenge of jurors to be abolished in fraud cases as should the prosecution's right of "stand

by for the Crown";

the abolition of full committal proceedings in serious fraud cases;

a requirement that the defence should disclose the outline of their

case in advance of the trial;

the setting up of an independent monitoring body (the "Fraud Commission") to study the efficiency with which fraud cases are

pursued from detection through to trial;

the appointment of "Case Controllers" for the control of serious

fraud cases from discovery to verdict.

The

Committee's report was unanimous, save that one

member, Mr. Walter Merricks, dissents on three points, namely the need for

an alternative mode of trial for complex fraud cases, the abolition of the right of peremptory challenge, and the use to which the defence disclosure

document could be put during the trial.

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