Sessional_Paper_1937 — Page 151

229

HONG KONG.

No. 1937

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE

APPOINTED BY

HIS EXCELLENCY THE OFFICER ADMINISTERING THE GOVERNMENT

TO CONSIDER

THE RECENT INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PRISONERS

IN THE COLONY AND

TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS IN RESPECT OF SUCH INCREASE.

HONG KONG, 27th October, 1937.

SIR,

1. We have the honour to present the Report of the Committee appointed by order of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government to inquire into and report upon the overcrowding of Prisons in Hong Kong, in accordance with your letter dated 8th June, 1937. The Committee consisting of the late Mr. T. A. Mitchell, Mr. S. M. Churn and Mr. E. I. Wynne-Jones (Chairman), com- menced work on the 29th June, 1937, and continued to meet twice a week until Mr. Mitchell was taken ill and removed to hospital on the 5th August, 1937. During this period the Committee took evidence on seven occasions and also paid visits to Stanley Prison, Victoria Gaol, and the No. 1 Provincial Prison at Canton. In addition, correspondence was undertaken with other interested authorities such as the Nutrition Committee, and by courtesy of the Colonial Secretariat the Prisons Administration of the Straits Settlements. Almost daily consultations by the Committee took place on the various points raised.

A mass of evidence has been collected which is contained in the file attached. A large part of the information contained therein is necessarily confidential and should not, in our opinion, be published.

2. In approaching their task the Committee first considered what were the principles of punishment as envisaged by our system of law, particularly in regard to conditions in the Colony. According to the text books, legal punishment is to be regarded as penal, deterrent and reformative. The penal side is largely governed by the type of sentence passed by the Bench; the deterrent by a combination of the type of sentence and the conditions under which the sentence is carried out; the reformative only by the prison system itself. We considered that it was not within the scope of our inquiry to investigate the sentences passed by the Judges of the Colony, though to some extent we have considered those passed by the Magistrates. The second and third purposes however were obviously within our purview and it is to these that we have mainly directed our attention.

3. A consideration of the conditions under which sentences were carried out soon led us to divide the system under four main headings (a) accommodation, (b) discipline, (c) food, and (d) labour.

THE HONOURABLE,

THE COLONIAL SECRETARY,

HONG KONG.