ENG-1958 — Page 242

198

HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT

and, if a prima facie case is made out, the accused are committed for trial at the criminal sessions, which are held once a month.

There is an appeal from the Supreme Court to a Full Court, consisting of two or more judges as directed by the Chief Justice.

Under the Magistrates Ordinance, any person aggrieved may appeal to a judge from the decision of a magistrate. This form of appeal is heard by a single judge, who may direct that the appeal, or any point in it, be considered by the Full Court.

As in previous years, the appellate jurisdiction had a heavy calendar dealing with 270 criminal appeals and 19 civil appeals. The level of work in the original jurisdiction also rose appreciably, 657 actions being instituted as against 495 in 1957. In the Mis- cellaneous Proceedings register, 210 applications were entered as against 102 for 1957.

In the Criminal Sessions of the Supreme Court, 74 cases were heard involving 87 accused of whom 70 were convicted.

The District Courts have jurisdiction to hear claims up to a value of $5,000 and a special jurisdiction in Workmen's Compensation. The District Court Judges also have a criminal jurisdiction greater than that of Magistrates, which enables them to try certain cases which would otherwise have to be committed to the Supreme Court Sessions. The District Courts, of which two normally sit on Hong Kong Island and two in Kowloon, were once more kept extremely busy. The total number of actions instituted, namely 4,456, exceeded the total for 1957 by more than 1,200 cases and constitutes a record for any one year since the inception of these Courts in 1953, the previous record total being 3,201 for 1955. In their criminal jurisdiction the District Courts tried 388 persons of whom 337 were convicted; this represents an increase of approximately 15% over the previous year.

There are Magistrates' Courts on Hong Kong Island, in Kow- loon, and in the New Territories. The courts in Kowloon hear cases from the whole mainland area south of the Kowloon hills. In the New Territories, there are courts in Tai Po and Ping Shan, with one magistrate dividing his time between both places. On Hong Kong Island, apart from the regular Magistrates' Courts, there is a Justices of the Peace Court, composed of two Justices of the Peace sitting together five afternoons a week. One of the