Introduction to Crime, Law and Justice in Hong Kong
Introduction to Crime, Law and Justice in Hong Kong (Hong Kong University Press, 2009)
26 Pages Posted: 14 Feb 2014
Date Written: July 1, 2009
Abstract
Hong Kong’s criminal justice system is large and complex enough to bewilder even many of those directly responsible for its administration. There are now so many departments, often with conflicting interests and goals, that it is difficult to understand the system as a whole.
This introductory chapter argues that, although it might be tempting to focus primarily on the police or the judiciary, any attempt to understand Hong Kong's criminal justice system properly must adopt a much wider scope.
When it comes to law enforcement, that means also looking at other agencies, particularly the Independent Commission Against Corruption and Customs and Excise Department. Similarly the sentencing power of the judiciary can not be considered in isolation from how these sentences are carried out by the prisons and other institutions and rehabilitation services run by the Correctional Services Department and Social Welfare Department.
Adding to the confusing picture is that these different parts of Hong Kong’s criminal justice system often work at cross purposes to each other, and pursue very different goals, and it is necessary to consider these conflicts in order to reach a considered conclusion on the nature of Hong Kong's criminal justice system.
Keywords: Crime, Law, Justice, Hong Kong
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