TNAG-1922-FCO40-2727-Future-of-the-judiciary-in-Hong-Kong-1989 — Page 10

BACKGROUND NOTE

PQ SERIAL 2772 BY MR CHRIS SMITH MP

July Trial in Hong Kong

Hong Kong has a three-tier judicial system of Magistrates' Courts,

District Courts and High Court, In District Courts, trial is by a judge sitting alone. The maximum term of imprisonment in criminal

cases that a District Court may impose is seven years.

The most serious criminal offences, such as murders, manslaughter, rape, armed robbery, drug offences involving large quantities and major fraud cases, are tried by a judge of the High Court, sitting with a jury of seven, or, where a judge orders, nine. The decision of the jury must be unanimous in cases in which the law provides for

a death sentence. In other cases a jury may return a majority

verdict of five to two.

High Court proceedings are conducted in English, and so there is a English-langauge qualification for jurors. Thus the proportion of expatriates among jurors is somewhat higher than their proportion in the population as a whole.

Mr Smith's interest in this subject is probably linked to his

concerns over the Osman case