High Court
24-554: District Court Magistrates' Court Special courts and tribunals: Chief Executive Elections Legislative elections District council elections Consular missions in Hong Kong Hong Kong–China relations Hong Kong–Taiwan relations The Correctional Services Department ( CSD ) is responsible for the management of prisoners and prisons in Hong Kong . The Commissioner of Correctional Services reports to
48-729: A barrister , advocate , solicitor or judicial officer in Hong Kong or another common law jurisdiction is eligible to be appointed as a Judge, Registrar or Master of the District Court. District Judges, as well as the Registrar and Masters of the District Court, are appointed by the Chief Executive on the recommendation of the independent Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission (JORC). Limited-term or vacancy-filling Deputy District Judges may be appointed by
72-701: A jury. From its establishment in 1953 there have been no juries in the district court. The Attorney General at the time the District Court Ordinance was passed, Arthur Ridehalgh , explained to the Legislative Council that juries were "not infallible" and only a "means to an end" and that every practitioner will have come across cases where a verdict of not guilty was either a "stupid or perverse one." Judges would be required to give reasons for verdict would should be sufficient safeguard. A person who has practised for at least 5 years as
96-623: A one-year course for an applied education diploma. Among them was Tong Ying-kit, the first person sentenced under the Hong Kong National Security Law . The first graduation ceremony was held in August 2024. The current crest of the force was adopted in 1997 to replace most of the colonial symbols: [REDACTED] Media related to Hong Kong Correctional Services Department at Wikimedia Commons SARs: SARs: District Court (Hong Kong) The District Court
120-583: Is modelled after the English legal system , with indictable offences being taken up by the District Court if they are transferred from the magistrate's court . The District Court hears all serious cases except murder, manslaughter rape and dangerous drug cases where large quantities of drugs have been seized, and can impose a sentence of up to seven years. Cases are heard in either the Cantonese or English language. A District Court Judge sits alone without
144-506: Is the intermediate court system in Hong Kong , having limited criminal and civil jurisdictions. The District Court was established in 1953 with the enactment of the District Court Ordinance. It is located in the Wanchai Law Courts, Wanchai Tower , 12 Harbour Road. In the past there were six district courts , namely Victoria , Kowloon , Fanling , Tsuen Wan , Tuen Mun and Sha Tin , before being amalgamated and moved to
168-641: The Chief Justice . It is not uncommon for a person to sit as a short-term Deputy District Judge prior to appointment in a permanent capacity. In 1986, Judge Helen Lo was the first woman to be appointed as a District Judge. District judges are mandated to retire at age 65. The Chief District Judge is the Court Leader of the District Court. The Judges who have held the position of Chief District Judge to date are: District Judges are referred to as 'His/Her Honour Judge [surname]'. The Judges of
192-677: The Lands Tribunal . In practice, however, only certain District Judges are assigned to hear cases in the Lands Tribunal. The Chief Justice appoints on a temporary basis a number of Permanent Magistrates , retired judges and practitioners in private practice to sit as Deputy District Judges. A Deputy District Judge may exercise all the jurisdiction, powers and privileges of a District Judge. All Deputy District Judges are, by virtue of their office, Presiding Officers of
216-633: The Secretary for Security . Although the Chief Magistrate (now Commissioner of Police ) was given control over prisons in 1841, the legislation to create the department did not come into being until 1853. CSD was part of the Hong Kong Police Force until 1879 when the role of Superintendent of Victoria Gaol was created. The department has been financially independent from the Hong Kong Police Force since December 1920, when
240-501: The national security law , they would be required to sign an oath to declare their nationalities. The Canadian government revealed that a prisoner with a Canadian passport was forced to choose a nationality on 18 January 2021. A spokesperson for the United States said that there were now "deep concerns that this new Hong Kong policy will compel people to declare their citizenship under duress and without an opportunity to understand
264-696: The District Court Equal Opportunities Rules (Cap. 336G) and Practice Direction SL8. The District Court has jurisdiction to handle claims by the Inland Revenue Department against defaulting taxpayers to recover outstanding tax due to the Government , regardless of the amount. The District Court also hears appeals from taxpayers against assessments by the Collector of Stamp Duty . The system
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#1732783215600288-619: The District Court as of 5 December 2022 are (ranked by seniority): Chief District Judge District Judges Pursuant to a general power of appointment to vacancies or on a temporary basis under sections 10 and 37A of the High Court Ordinance, Cap. 4, the Chief Justice frequently makes short-term appointments of District Court judges to sit in the High Court as a Deputy Judge or Master. All District Judges are, by virtue of their office, Presiding Officers of
312-468: The District Court may continue to handle the whole case even when the counterclaim exceeds HK$ 3 million, but a report has to be made to the High Court, which may order that the case be transferred. As to claims for possession of land, the District Court can deal with buildings or premises the annual rent or rateable value or the annual value of which does not exceed HK$ 320,000. If a claimant invokes
336-464: The District Court's equity jurisdiction , the above limits are equally applicable, except that in proceedings wholly relating to land, the maximum value shall not exceed HK$ 7 million. Distraint claims are handled by the District Court. The District Court has exclusive jurisdiction to determine claims for compensation payable under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282), regardless of
360-683: The Lands Tribunal. In practice, however, only certain Deputy District Judges are assigned to hear cases in the Lands Tribunal. All Judges of the District Court (regardless of whether Chief District Judge, Judges or Deputy Judges) are addressed in court as "Your Honour". In court judgments and decisions, District Judges are referred to as 'His/Her Honour Judge [surname]', 'HH Judge [surname]' or 'HHJ [surname]'. Deputy District Judges are referred to as 'Deputy District Judge [surname]' or 'DDJ [surname]'. Hong Kong Metropolitan University Too Many Requests If you report this error to
384-622: The Superintendent of Victoria Gaol was re-titled as the Superintendent of Prisons. In February 2021, it was reported that the CSD had worked with the Security Bureau to reduce "collusion" between foreign governments and those in custody. The CSD began to ask those in custody to produce both their HKID and foreign passports, or else consulate staff would not be allowed to assist them. In addition, for those in custody who may have broken
408-801: The amount. Such claims are governed by the Employees' Compensation (Rules of Court) Rules (Cap. 282B) and Practice Direction 18.2. The District Court has exclusive jurisdiction to deal with claims made under the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 480), the Disability Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 487), the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 527) and the Race Discrimination Ordinance (Cap. 602). Such claims are governed by
432-483: The excess is abandoned. If the claim is HK$ 75,000 or less, an adverse costs order may be made against the winning plaintiff due to pursuing its claim in the wrong court. If the plaintiff's claim does not exceed HK$ 3 million, but the defendant counterclaims for over HK$ 3 million, the claim and the counterclaim (or the counterclaim only) may be transferred to the Court of First Instance of the High Court . For good reasons,
456-487: The full implications of the declaration." In response, the CSD declined to comment. Also in February 2021, commissioner Woo Ying-ming claimed that some people were becoming prisoners for the glorification of being imprisoned for political reasons, and also said that district councillors would be restricted from visiting prisoners unless they give a "valid reason." In March 2021, Apple Daily reported that sources told
480-401: The newspaper that the CSD's "secret unit" handled the detention of Andy Li, who was arrested for attempting to flee to Taiwan. In July 2023, 7 CSD officers were arrested, with allegations that they had gang raped a woman. In January 2024, the CSD claimed that reports of a man being arrested in 2022 for sexual assaults in prison was "baseless," but several days later, Hong Kong police confirmed
504-806: The report. As with all of the Hong Kong Disciplined Services , British-pattern rank insignia continue to be utilised, with the only change being the replacement of the St. Edward's Crown by the Bauhinia flower crest in 1997. Corrections guards presently wear green uniforms. The prison vehicles are blue and yellow and have the logo on them. CSD runs 28 facilities across Hong Kong ranging from maximum security prisons to rehabilitation centres. Facilities have different purposes, including training centres, detention centres, rehabilitation centres, and drug addiction treatment centres. As of 2018 there
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#1732783215600528-467: The same location in March 1991. The District Court has limited civil jurisdiction. For a contract, quasi-contract or tort claim to be handled by the District Court, it should be for an amount over HK$ 75,000 but not more than HK$ 3 million. If the claim is more than HK$ 3 million, the claim can still be pursued in the District Court (instead of the Court of First Instance of the High Court ) provided that
552-671: The security of the prisons; Legco member Shiu Ka-chun criticised this rationale. On 30 November 2023, Ethics College opened in Pak Sha Wan Correctional Institution, with its establishment sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and teachers and teaching materials provided by Hong Kong Metropolitan University . The first batch of students comprised 75 inmates, 60 male and 15 female – the latter joining remotely from Lo Wu Correctional Institution – who enrolled in
576-566: Was a daily average of 8,310 prisoners in the Hong Kong prison system. The prisons had an occupancy rate of 81.6 per cent, while training, detention, rehabilitation, and drug addiction treatment centres had an occupancy rate of 30.8 per cent. As of 2018 there were about 100,000 books in the prison libraries; the percentages by language were 83% Chinese, 10% English, and 7% not in Chinese nor English. Prison authorities stated that they did not wish to buy too many books of non-official language to ensure
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