ENG-1962 — Page 245

LAW, ORDER AND RECORDS

201

Magistracy, three at Causeway Bay, three at South Kowloon, four at North Kowloon and one in the New Territories.

The existence of these Magistrates' Courts has made possible a better distribution of the total volume of court work, and it can now be said that a Magistrates' Court is in most cases reason- ably near to the homes of defendants, witnesses and others concerned.

On Hong Kong Island, apart from the regular Magistrates' Courts, there is a Justice of the Peace Court, composed of two justices of the peace sitting together four afternoons a week. One of the justices is usually a solicitor.

Figures for criminal cases before the Courts showed some re- duction during the year, largely due to a decrease in minor sum- monses for hawking offences in Kowloon. A very substantial amount of the criminal business of the Courts continued to be taken up by the trial of cases of possession and trafficking in dangerous drugs, offences which remain prevalent in the Colony. The overall figures for serious crime are contained in Appendix IX.

When the District Court was established in 1953 it took over the summary jurisdiction previously exercised by the Supreme Court, giving to the public a simpler and shorter method of bring- ing to trial civil disputes in which the value of the subject matter was under $5,000. The volume of work undertaken by the Court has steadily increased since its inception, reflecting the Colony's industrial growth and the expansion of its population. In 1953, the year of its establishment, the number of civil actions tried in the District Court was 2,259. In the last three years the figures have been:

1960

1961

1962

5,253

6,921

8,870

The Tenancy Tribunal deals with matters arising under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, which provides for a measure of control over domestic and business premises erected before 17th August 1945. The tribunal is responsible for inquiring into, and making recommendations on, applications for exemption from the provisions of the ordinance where it is considered desirable that land should be developed after appropriate compensation to exist- ing tenants. In recent years the tribunal's recommendations have