ENG-1966 — Page 356

CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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The Courts of Justice in Hong Kong are the Full Court, the Supreme Court, the District Court, the Magistracy and the Tenancy Tribunal. The rapid changes in the social and economic structure of the Colony and in the size and distribution of the population have necessitated the creation of additional courts. In 1966 the judiciary had posts for the Chief Justice, the Senior Puisne Judge, six puisne judges, eight district judges, 28 magistrates and a President of the Tenancy Tribunal. The district judges sit in Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories. Magistrates sit at Central, Causeway Bay and Western Magistracies on Hong Kong Island, and at South Kowloon, North Kowloon, Fanling, Tsuen Wan, Tsim Sha Tsui and Kwun Tong Magistracies on the mainland. In addition to the regular Magistrates' Courts on either side of the harbour, there is also a Justice of the Peace Court each for the Island and the mainland which sit several afternoons a week. Whenever possible one of the two justices is a solicitor. The Tenancy Tribunal deals with matters arising under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance and the Demolished Buildings Ordinance and its work is described in Chapter 8.

Magistrates exercise criminal jurisdiction over a wide range of indictable offences as well as summary offences. In the case of indictable offences, however, their powers of punishment are re- stricted generally to a maximum of two years' imprisonment or a $2,000 fine for any one offence, unless the law in regard to any particular offence prescribes that they may award some higher penalty. When trying two or three offences together, cumulative sentences of imprisonment imposed by them may not exceed three

years.

Magistrates hold preliminary inquiries to decide whether persons accused of the most serious offences should be committed to trial at the criminal sessions of the Supreme Court. They also transfer various cases of a serious nature to the District Court on the application of the Attorney General. The civil jurisdiction of these courts is not extensive, but they exercise a limited jurisdiction in domestic matters chiefly under the Infants Custody Ordinance and Separation and Maintenance Orders Ordinance, and perform im- portant functions under a number of other ordinances, including the Magistrates (Coroners Powers) Ordinance.