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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, in the Legislative Council today (June 7):
Question:
Recently, I have received complaints from many members of the public, alleging that they were not given immediately a copy of the statement they made at the police station. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of such complaints received by the authorities concerned in each of the past three years;
(b) whether there are guidelines requiring police officers to give a copy of the statement to the person from whom the statement was taken immediately after completion of the statement-taking procedure;
(i) if there are such guidelines, of the details, including whether there are penalties for non-compliance by police officers; if there are such penalties, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(ii) if there are no such guidelines, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it will improve the measures for providing a copy of the statement to the person from whom the statement was taken; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Complaints relating to the failure of providing a copy of the statement fall within the category of "Neglect of Duty". There is no further break down within this category, and the Police have not kept separate statistical figures for this specific type of complaints.
(b) The Police have internal guidelines to govern matters relating to statement-taking. According to the guidelines, the witness/suspect is entitled to a free copy of his/her statement, irrespective of whether it has been signed or not, unless there are specific grounds for withholding disclosure under Part II of the "Code of Access to Information" or if there is an applicable exemption from doing so under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. Even in such cases, a free copy of the statement will still be provided to the witness/suspect once the ground/exemption for withholding disclosure ceases to be applicable. The general requirement is that a copy of the statement should be provided to the witness/suspect as soon as practicable after the interview, except which, for example, providing a copy to a suspect is likely to cause hindrance to the administration of justice.
Appropriate actions, including disciplinary action, will be considered if the police officer concerned is found to have failed to comply with the internal guidelines.
(c) We consider that the existing mechanism governing statement taking is appropriate for ensuring that police officers will carry out statement taking related duties properly.
Ends/Wednesday, June 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 15:47
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