TNAG-1734-FCO40-2447-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 113

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MR.

MARTIN LEE :

Sir,I

thank the Attorney General for

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giving us a very preciśè and helpful historical background

of this Bill in his speech made on 1 June 1988 when he

moved the Second Reading of this Bill.

In its final form, and in the light of amendments

which will be moved in Committee, this Bill is in my view

beneficial to the community of Hong Kong. Indeed, it has

the full support of the Hong Kong Bar Association and the

Law Society of Hong Kong. And I have been asked by the

representatives of these professional bodies to express in

this Council their appreciation of the efforts put into

this Bill by

of Bill by both members

the the ad hoc group and

Administration.

Sir, it is necessary to remind ourselves that on separate two occasions two very basic principles of our system of

criminal justice had been threatened. First, the Trial of

Commercial Crimes

Crimes Bill

Bill 1985, which is the predecessor of the present Bill, proposed the abolition of the jury for

the trial of complex commercial crimes and substituted it

with two commercial adjudicators sitting with a judge.

And So the jury system which

which is the corner stone of our

criminal justice in Hong Kong was being rocked to its very

foundation.

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