ENG-1993 — Page 342

PUBLIC ORDER

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Government Laboratory

The Forensic Science Division of the Government Laboratory provides expert scientific evidence in courts of law in Hong Kong. It also provides specialist skills to all government departments concerned with law and order, and, increasingly, to a private sector seeking assistance, on a fee-paying basis, in civil litigation and criminal defence cases.

During the year, the division examined 198 572 exhibits and samples, of which 900 exhibits (involving 81 cases) came from the private sector.

The nine specialist sections of the division are organised into two groups. The Physical and Biochemical Evidence Group concentrates on the analysis of trace evidence associated with crimes of violence and fraud such as homicide, rape, arson, hit-and-run, and questioned documents, which involves expert opinion. The Drugs and Toxicology Group is involved with drug analysis and the evidence given is of scientific fact.

Within the Physical and Biochemical Evidence Group, the greatest expansion in work has been in DNA profiling, which has proved to be a useful tool in confirming serial rape cases. Although the workload of the group was similar to that of the previous year, there was a substantial increase in the number of both homicide and sexual assault cases, by 23 per cent and six per cent, respectively. In terms of technology improvement, a new Scanning Electron Microscope, with an energy-dispersive analyser, was installed. This allows the fully-automated analysis of gunshot residue samples.

The Drugs and Toxicology Group dealt with a record number of cases for the analysis of drug seizures. During the year, over 102 000 drug items (an increase of 30 per cent over 1992) were examined. As in previous years, the great majority of the cases involved opiate drugs (over 78 000 items), but the presence of cannabis continued to be a growing problem. With increased seizures of cocaine, amphetamines, benzodiazepines, and for the first time in Hong Kong, the amphetamine-related designer drugs of the 'Ecstasy' type, drug abuse in Hong Kong appeared to be following international trends more closely. More stringent legislative controls over cough syrups were enacted at the start of the year, with an immediate positive effect. Requests for drug urinalysis continued to grow, with 56 681 sample tests conducted during the year, an increase of 13 per cent over 1992. The results of those tests indicated the rising trend of non-opiate drug abuse.

In line with government policy, the Forensic Science Division is presently engaged in formulating performance parameters and targets, to ensure greater efficiency in the future.

Immigration Department

By controlling entry to Hong Kong, the Immigration Department plays an important role in maintaining law and order.

Through examination at control points and the vetting of visa applications, undesirable persons, including international criminals and terrorists, are detected and refused entry. In 1993, 19 075 such travellers and persons not in possession of proper documentation were refused permission to land and 2 702 persons were refused visas.

Detection of Forged Travel Documents

A total of 2 347 forged travel documents were detected during the year, representing a decrease of 17.4 per cent on the 2 840 detected in 1992.

Strict measures were taken to guard against the use of forged travel documents by travellers, as well as illegal immigrants. Intelligence on forgery activities was collected