TNAG-1729-FCO40-2442-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 290

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He said:

Criminal Procedure (Amendment Bill` `1988 Second Reading Speech-

that

Sir, I move the

ading of the Criminal

Procedure (Amendment) Bill 1988 be read a Second time.

The Bill addresses a problem which can lead to

ecessary delay in criminal trials.

Section 65B of the Criminal Procedure Ordinance allows

the admission into evidence of written statements in a criminal

proceeding,, other than a committal. Certain conditions must be

of the conditions One is that under section 65B (3) (c) a statement in a

language other than English, must be accompanied by an English translation certified by the court translator.

met.

Sir, this

he requirement that an English translation be

л certified by the court translator can cause problems at the

trial. A statement may be agreed by the parties and, a

translation available, but it cannot be admitted in evidence

until a certified translation is obtained. Delay is experienced

while the court translation service produces a certified

translation. The usual length of time required for certification

の

of translations to be used by the High Court is 21 days.

cases where there are lengthy and bulky documents the

In

certification of translations takes much longer.

This

The Bill amends section 65B(3)(c) to remove the

requirement for a certified translation where the parties agree.

The section, as amended, will provide that if a statement

tendered in evidence is made in a language other than English, it

shall be accompanied by an English translation, which shall be

certified, unless otherwise agreed by or on behalf of the

prosecutor and the defendant (or, if more than one, all the

defendants).

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