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Following is a reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Ronny Tong on criminal cases involving family violence in the Legislative council today (July 4):
Question :
Will the Government inform this Council of the following in the past five judicial years:
(a) the number of criminal cases involving family violence which were handled by various levels of courts, and among them, the number of those in which the accused were convicted, as well as the information on the penalty imposed; if the relevant figures and information are not available, of the reasons for that; and
(b) the number of criminal cases involving family violence which were disposed of by way of offering no evidence against the accused, and the details of such cases, including the number of those in which the accused were required to enter into recognizances to be of good behaviour, and whether the accused's agreement to be bound over was one of the factors for consideration of offering no evidence by the prosecution?
Reply:
Madam President,
Regarding the two parts of the question of the Hon Member, our response is as follows:
(a) From 2003 to 2006, the annual total number of domestic violence crime cases dealt with by the court is 391, 511, 904 and 1 408 respectively. The details are set out at the Annex which has been distributed to Members.
(b) The Police handle and investigate all reports of incidents involving domestic violence professionally, and conduct thorough investigation according to the circumstances of each report. Where there is sufficient evidence, prosecution action will be taken. However, after invoking the prosecution process, due to various factors beyond its control, the prosecution may need to consider disposing of a case by way of offering no evidence. These factors include the witness suddenly becoming reluctant to give evidence, the witness having reached reconciliation with the offender, the witness's credibility being in doubt, and the witness having disappeared, etc. In deciding whether or not to dispose of a case by way of offering no evidence, the offender's remorse (such as whether the offender agrees to the arrangement of binding over) can be one of the considerations for less serious cases.
Between 2003 and 2006, the number of domestic violence crime cases which the prosecution disposed of by way of offering no evidence is 23, 44, 67 and 178 respectively. The Administration does not maintain separate statistics on the number of such cases in which the defendant had to be bound over.
Ends/Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:09
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