Top prosecutor Kevin Zervos calls for leniency for first-time offenders

The city's top prosecutor has called for "compassionate treatment" of first-time offenders guilty of minor crimes, saying it could be an effective way of discouraging them from getting on the wrong side of the law again.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kevin Zervos told the South China Morning Post that successful convictions and harsh penalties are not necessarily a deterrent for first-time offenders. Instead, a compassionate approach could stop them reoffending, he said .

Zervos said there we multiple ways to achieve criminal justice, such as asking defendants to write letters of apology to victims or having law enforcement agencies issue warnings to young offenders.

Such measures do not leave an offender with a criminal record.

"I can see the positive effects of treating [first-time offenders] in a just and compassionate way. It is important to give a person a second chance and not to break their spirit. When you [give them a reprieve] the chances are they don't reoffend and you won't see them in the criminal court again," Zervos said.

"It is about dispensing justice and really giving meaning to justice - a correct and right way of dealing with a situation. You need to be innovative to steer people away from crime, not into it. You want people to be good citizens. We are administering justice and we are not there to win at all costs," he said.