Low conviction rates at Magistrates' Courts a cause for alarm
When 50pc of cases are lost, prosecution standards must be improved
Of course, conviction rates are not infallible indicators of whether prosecutions are properly brought. Key witnesses may, for example, change their evidence, forget what happened or even disappear. However, once the point is reached when almost 50 per cent of cases are being lost, some very serious soul searching is unavoidable.
In the Magistrates' Courts, many cases are brought to trial by law enforcement agencies without legal advice having been given, and this needs review. In England and Wales, the Crown Prosecution Service offers charging advice on almost all cases, even if minor, although to handle the workload it has greatly expanded its personnel. Higher conviction rates and fewer failed prosecutions have resulted, and this paradigm should be considered.
Of late, large numbers of cases have been briefed out to newly qualified lawyers to provide them with basic training. However, the Department of Justice must now decide if its ultimate responsibility is to train up private lawyers or to ensure its trials are conducted to the highest standards. Standards of prosecution cannot be compromised, and the department must now put its best foot forward.
After their introduction in 1977, most prosecutions in the Magistrates' Courts have been conducted by the court prosecutors, a cadre of highly trained paralegals employed by the Department of Justice.
The court prosecutors, who conduct cases on behalf of the police and other agencies, have over the years earned the respect of their criminal justice partners. However, they now have numerous vacancies in their ranks, and there is an urgent need for the department to start recruiting again, and brief out less. Once they are fully up to strength, the court prosecutors will again be able to provide Hong Kong with a high-quality prosecution service at the summary level.