functions of the Attorney General in regard to prosecutions in the Magistrates Courts and it is now clear that the Attorney General is empowered to exercise the same control over prosecutions before magistrates as in the Supreme Court.
A further amendment based on section 1 of the Probation of Offenders Act, 1907, (7 Edw. c.17) gives wider powers to magistrates in the matter of releasing an offender on probation. The amending Ordinance authorises a novel procedure whereby persons charged with the commission of certain minor offences are afforded the right to plead guilty by letter, but this right is restricted only to those offences which have been the subject of a special declaration in an Ordinance or which have been specified by a resolution of Legislative Council. As regards bail, magistrates have been given a discretionary power to grant or refuse bail in all cases of felony save treason and murder and in all cases of indictable misdemeanor. In the event of an appeal from the decision of a magistrate, the amended Ordinance now specifically requires a magistrate to provide a written judg- ment for the consideration of the Court of Appeal.
The Emergency Regulations (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance, 1949, amended the Emergency Regulations Ordinance, 1922, and in so doing clarified the question of penalties for offences against regulations made under the Ordinance and confirmed that where there is conflict or inconsistency between regulations and existing law, regula- tions would prevail.
In the course of the year necessity was presented to enact regulations. A principal body of such regulations of a most comprehensive nature has been enacted and published. These regulations, entitled the Emergency (Principal) Regula- tions, 1949, were not brought into force upon enactment, provision being included to empower the Governor to bring them into force in whole or part as circumstances may require.
The shortage of accommodation in the Colony necessitated the appointment of a committee charged with the responsibility of enquiring into and advising Government concerning the control of hotel accommodation and the charges for such accommodation. As a result of this committee's report the Hotels Ordinance was enacted in 1949 to enable measures of control to be imposed in respect of accommodation in and charges made by certain hotels in the Colony. The Ordinance protects, by reservation of accommodation and by control of charges, the "Hong Kong resident", being a person who is resident in Hong Kong for the reason that his occupation is in Hong Kong.
One of the worst and most obvious legacies of the war was the extensive damage which occurred to a large proportion of domestic and business premises in all parts of
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