ENG-2005 — Page 408

354 Public Order

the overcrowding problem in women's prisons, will start operating in July 2006. The Lo Wu Correctional Institution was closed during the year, pending a redevelopment plan which will expand the prison into three institutions, providing a total of 1 400 penal places by the end of 2009 and helping to reduce the perennial overcrowding problem.

The three halfway houses operated by the CSD provide group counselling sessions and other activities for inmates to assist their reintegration into society.

Penal Population

In 2005, the penal population remained high and averaged 7 per cent over the certified accommodation, with prisons for adults, particularly women, being the major pressure points. The average female penal population was 2 580, representing an occupancy rate of 160 per cent. Despite overcrowding which stretched resources, the CSD continued to implement its correctional programmes effectively.

During the year, 21 606 adult offenders (12 831 males and 8 775 females) were sentenced to imprisonment, and 8 676 adults were remanded in custody (6 294 males and 2 382 females). The number of young offenders sentenced to imprisonment totalled 1 593 (496 males and 1 097 females), and 708 young people were remanded in custody (500 males and 208 females). In addition, 626 young offenders (563 males and 63 females) were sentenced to detention in training centres, rehabilitation centres or the detention centre, and 1 698 offenders (1 494 males and 204 females) to drug addiction treatment centres while 3 814 offenders (3 298 males and 516 females) were remanded pending reports on their suitability for sentencing to one of these centres.

Pre-sentence Assessment Panel

Young people aged between 14 and 20, who are convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment, may be remanded in custody for a period not exceeding three weeks for assessment of their suitability for admission to a training centre, rehabilitation centre, detention centre or drug addiction treatment centre. Young men aged between 21 and 24 may be similarly remanded for admission to the detention centre.

The CSD runs the Pre-sentence Assessment Panel, which makes recommendations to the courts on the suitability of offenders for detention at one of the centres. The panel investigates all cases referred by the courts, and prepares suitability reports for them. In 2005, 4 932 offenders were remanded for suitability reports, and the panel found 1 253 males and 165 females suitable for admission to a rehabilitation centre, a training centre or detention centre, and 2 056 males and 268 females suitable for a drug addiction treatment centre.

Young Offender Assessment Panel

The Young Offender Assessment Panel includes representatives from the CSD and the Social Welfare Department who make recommendations to magistrates and judges on the most appropriate rehabilitation programmes for young male offenders aged between 14 and 24 and females aged 14 to 20.