ENG-1950 — Page 84

Not only was the composition of the Supreme Court and of the Legal Department affected by legislation in 1950, but the civil ser- vice as a whole was affected by the enactment of the Public Services Commission Ordinance, 1950. That Ordinance makes provision for the appointment of a Public Services Commission which, subject to reservations in respect of the Judiciary, certain senior offices and the Police Force, will advise the Government on the selection and appointment of candidates for public service in Hong Kong and on the promotion of officers serving.

The need for the enactment of legislation consequent on the war and the enemy occupation of the Colony showed in 1950 a marked decline. Nevertheless, it was necessary to enact legislation (the Volunteer and Naval Volunteer Pensions Ordinance, 1950) to validate payments by way of pensions or other benefits to members or dependants of volunteers who served during the war in defence of the Colony. Two Ordinances passed in 1933 provided for the making of regulations for the payment of pensions, gratuities and other awards to members of the Volunteers when called out should casualties result. In fact such provision by regulation had not been made when war broke out. Consequently at the end of hostilities it was necessary to meet claims of Volunteers and their dependants to pensions, gratuities and other awards which had arisen by reason of the active service of the Volunteers and on the terms applicable to members of His Majesty's Forces in the United Kingdom.

As a consequence also of enemy occupation or of the sale of surplus stores after the war, considerable quantities of both Government and Ser- vice stores passed into the hands of the general public. As a result, difficulty has been experienced in the post-war years in prevention and investigation of thefts of such stores by the lack of conclusive evidence identifying stolen property as being in fact Government or Services property. The Public Stores Ordinance, 1950, was therefore enacted to minimize the difficulty by giving protection to the employment of identifying marks and guarding by heavy penalty against their removal or defacement.

Continuance during 1950 of disturbed conditions throughout the world, and in the Far East in particular, necessarily had reper- cussions on the maintenance of law and order within the Colony. In reinforcement, it was considered necessary during 1950 to bring into force some thirty-three regulations of the Emergency (Principal) Regulations, 1949, enacted under the Emergency Regulations Ordin- ance, 1922.

Among the regulations in force, regulation 116A is of principal importance. That regulation provides for the death penalty upon conviction on indictment for the unlawful use or at- tempted use of firearms or explosive substances, whether or not injury to person or property is in fact caused, and for the unlawful possession of bombs, grenades or mines. It is permissible to believe that this measure has had a beneficial result in that the tendency, which had become most pronounced, to carry or employ arms in furtherance of crime had at the close of the year diminished.

68