TNAG-1589-FCO40-21741-Future-of-the-judiciary-in-Hong-Kong.-Part-1-of-2-1987 — Page 112

not doing homework during its course, by having all affidavits and agreed documents read aloud in open court, by not discouraging prolixity, by not concentrating attention on the issues and by not preparing the judgment. If that were a reflection of the state of affairs the public would have cause for anxiety and would suffer considerable unnecessary cost and inconvenience. There is much more to the judicial day than trying cases in open court. Judges also have to keep abreast of the law. #lany have administrative tasks as well. And they have to conduct interlocutory business in Chambers. There is a

duty judge scheme. And in most cases at present the maker of the court record for appellate purposes is the judge himself; this is a time-consuming task out of as well as in court.

The maximum daily hearing time in court or chambers is five hours. This is long enough for everyone else as well as the judge. Consistently to attempt the peculiar and intense concentration of the courtroom for longer is to put too great a strain on the human

intellect and to run the risk that some injustice will be done to someone. And there is only one way

a bad way

to achieve an average of five hours every day in every court and that is to pack the lists with cases some of which on the face of it cannot be reached. Some

would not be reached. That again would be a cause for public questioning.

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Some cases go short simply because of the judge's skill and diligence. Some go shcrt because they settle or a defendant pleads guilty unexpectedly or a vital witness is ill. Either way they inevitably bring the daily average down. If what is listed for five hours takes ten minutes one court's average for the week is well down even if it reaches five hours on the other four days. Nevertheless, "the aim for all should be five hours. Higher, courts find it more difficult to achieve high averages than summary courts. Higher courts overseas with heavy backlogs and limited resources, and therefore an incentive tc high averages,

have great difficulty in getting appreciably over four hours.

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