Law Kwan Wai, Thomas
Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions
Department of Justice
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
People's Republic of China
The penal policy in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is one which seeks to achieve a balance between punishment and rehabilitation. On the one hand, punishment should be commensurate with the degree of harm caused by the crime. This may deter the offender and other potential offenders from committing future offences. On the other, it is also in the interests of the public and the offender to pursue constructive programmes designed to provide training and rehabilitation to offenders, especially juvenile delinquents.
In sentencing juvenile and young offenders, the courts of Hong Kong incline, where possible, towards rehabilitation rather than retribution or deterrence. Reformatory schools, detention centres and training centres seek to reform them through vocational, educational, and physical training. Society has no greater interest than the reform of its most errant members.
The criminal justice system must also do its best to reform the adult offender. Central to that is training. Such persons are provided with extensive opportunities to further their learning and skills. Every effort is made to facilitate the ultimate re-integration into society of the offender. To that end, a post-release supervision scheme for prisoners was introduced in 1996.
The ultimate objective of the penal system must be to secure the safety of the public. That is in the interests of society as a whole.
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