HONG KONG 2005

The Correctional Services Department (CSD) runs a comprehensive range of services for adult and young offenders, drug addicts and offenders with psychiatric problems. The services fall broadly under two areas: prison management and rehabilitation of offenders.

In 2005, the CSD managed 24 correctional institutions, three halfway houses, four rehabilitation centres, two custodial wards in public hospitals and one immigration centre on behalf of the Immigration Department. The Lo Wu Correctional Institution closed in March and Victoria Prison closed in December. The CSD also runs extensive community-based, after-care services. In all, 6 569 staff were looking after a daily average of 12 203 inmates, 187 detainees and 2 842 people under supervision after discharge from custody.

Offenders sentenced to imprisonment are assigned to institutions according to their gender, age and security rating. The last factor takes into account, among other things, the risk they pose to the community and whether they are first-time offenders. Separate institutions are provided for males and females, and for adults and young offenders. Male and female young offenders aged between 14 and 20 may be admitted to a training centre or a rehabilitation centre. A detention centre programme is available for male offenders aged between 14 and 24. Drug addicts found guilty of an offence punishable by imprisonment may be sentenced to a drug addiction treatment centre. Separate sections are available for young addicts aged between 14 and 20. Offenders requiring psychiatric treatment are accommodated in Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre.

The inmates' daily needs are properly cared for including their diet which is designed according to approved scales of nutritional values and takes account of health and religious requirements. All adult inmates, unless certified physically unfit by a medical officer, are required by law to work six days a week. They are assigned to different work posts according to factors such as their fitness and security ratings, personal background and balance of sentence. They receive earnings for the work done and may use the money to buy approved personal items twice a month. Television, newspapers and library books are available to inmates. They may send out and receive an unrestricted number of letters, receive regular visits and participate in the religious services available. Compulsory education and vocational programmes are provided for inmates under 21 whereas voluntary programmes are provided for adults. Voluntary organisations may visit inmates who are not visited by their families.

Prisoners released under the Pre-release Employment Scheme, offenders released under supervision from training centres, the detention centre, rehabilitation centres and drug addiction treatment centres, and those having special needs may be accommodated in halfway houses for varying lengths of time. Thereafter, they are permitted to live at home or in other places while they continue to receive after-care supervision.

The CSD manages 13 prisons for adult males, consisting of three maximum-, five medium- and five minimum-security institutions. Adult female prisoners are accommodated in three prisons. For young offenders, the department operates three prisons (one maximum and two minimum security), two training centres for males, two rehabilitation centres for males, a detention centre for young males, two rehabilitation centres for females and a training centre section for young females in Tai Tam Gap Correctional Institution. Two drug addiction treatment centres are also provided, one for male and one for female drug addicts. The Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre is a prison which separately houses male and female prisoners of all categories (sentenced or on remand) and detainees who require psychiatric observation, treatment or assessment. Of all these institutions, five cater for remand males and females of different age groups. Facilities in a penal institution normally include dormitories, kitchens, dining rooms, laundries, workshops, exercising and recreational areas, library and hospital.

Victoria Prison, Hong Kong's oldest, opened in 1841 and finally ceased operating as a prison at the end of 2005. It will be reprovisioned at the old staff married quarters adjacent to Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre which is being converted into a prison, Lai Chi Kok Correctional Institution. The new prison, which will also relieve the overcrowding problem in women's prisons, will start operating in July 2006. The Lo Wu Correctional Institution was closed during the year, pending a redevelopment plan which will expand the prison into three institutions, providing a total of 1 400 penal places by the end of 2009 and helping to reduce the perennial overcrowding problem.

The three halfway houses operated by the CSD provide group counselling sessions and other activities for inmates to assist their reintegration into society.

In 2005, the penal population remained high and averaged 7 per cent over the certified accommodation, with prisons for adults, particularly women, being the major pressure points. The average female penal population was 2 580, representing an occupancy rate of 160 per cent. Despite overcrowding which stretched resources, the CSD continued to implement its correctional programmes effectively.

During the year, 21 606 adult offenders (12 831 males and 8 775 females) were sentenced to imprisonment, and 8 676 adults were remanded in custody (6 294 males and 2 382 females). The number of young offenders sentenced to imprisonment totalled 1 593 (496 males and 1 097 females), and 708 young people were remanded in custody (500 males and 208 females). In addition, 626 young offenders (563 males and 63 females) were sentenced to detention in training centres, rehabilitation centres or the detention centre, and 1 698 offenders (1 494 males and 204 females) to drug addiction treatment centres while 3 814 offenders (3 298 males and 516 females) were remanded pending reports on their suitability for sentencing to one of these centres.

Young people aged between 14 and 20, who are convicted of an offence punishable by imprisonment, may be remanded in custody for a period not exceeding three weeks for assessment of their suitability for admission to a training centre, rehabilitation centre, detention centre or drug addiction treatment centre. Young men aged between 21 and 24 may be similarly remanded for admission to the detention centre.

The CSD runs the Pre-sentence Assessment Panel, which makes recommendations to the courts on the suitability of offenders for detention at one of the centres. The panel investigates all cases referred by the courts, and prepares suitability reports for them. In 2005, 4 932 offenders were remanded for suitability reports, and the panel found 1 253 males and 165 females suitable for admission to a rehabilitation centre, a training centre or detention centre, and 2 056 males and 268 females suitable for a drug addiction treatment centre.

The Young Offender Assessment Panel includes representatives from the CSD and the Social Welfare Department who make recommendations to magistrates and judges on the most appropriate rehabilitation programmes for young male offenders aged between 14 and 24 and females aged 14 to 20.

Training centres provide correctional training for young offenders for periods ranging from a minimum of six months to a maximum of three years. These offenders attend half-day educational classes and receive half-day vocational training. They also receive character development training in the form of scouting or guiding, Hong Kong Award for Young People activities and Outward Bound training. On Sundays and public holidays, visits are made to youth centres, factories, sports centres and country parks. Activities to provide social services for the elderly, and the mentally and physically handicapped are arranged for inmates nearing discharge to better prepare them for reintegration into society. Upon release, inmates must have suitable employment, education or vocational training and are subject to a statutory period of supervision of three years.

The detention centre programme is carried out at Sha Tsui Detention Centre for young male offenders aged between 14 and 20, and young men aged between 21 and 24. It emphasises strict discipline, strenuous training, hard work and a vigorous routine. The detention periods for young male offenders and young men are one to six months and three to 12 months respectively. After release, detainees are subject to a statutory supervision period of one year.

In operation since July 2002, the rehabilitation centres provide an additional sentencing option for the courts to deal with young offenders aged between 14 and 20 who are in need of a short-term residential rehabilitation programme. The programme consists of two phases with a total period of detention ranging from three to nine months. The first phase of the programme provides two to five months' training in a correctional institution. During the second phase of the programme, young offenders are accommodated in an institution with a halfway house setting for a period of one to four months. They may go out for work, attend vocational training and educational courses, and participate in community service programmes. Discharged young offenders are subject to a statutory period of supervision of one year.

Inmates aged under 21 are required to attend educational classes conducted by qualified teachers. Textbooks approved by the Education and Manpower Bureau and supplementary materials compiled by the CSD are used as teaching materials. All inmates are encouraged to take part in both local and overseas public examinations organised by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority as well as other local and overseas authorities. Young inmates may attend formal classes up to certificate level and sit for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination as school candidates. Adult inmates may sit for the examination as private candidates. Inmates may obtain accreditation by way of public examinations held by the City and Guilds or the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry International Qualifications.

The Prisoners' Education Trust Fund, set up with charitable donations in 1995, provides financial assistance to prisoners in educational pursuits in the form of grants to cover course or examination fees and reference material expenses.

To help young offenders reintegrate smoothly into society as law-abiding citizens, the department provides vocational training programmes for inmates aged under 21 to enable them to learn job skills, obtain accreditation and develop work habits.

The CSD offers various training courses that match the inmates' learning ability and needs. The vocational training courses are market orientated to allow the inmates a better opportunity for employment upon discharge. Apart from courses helping inmates to obtain City & Guilds vocational qualifications, there are training courses preparing inmates for trade tests or examinations conducted by the Vocational Training Council, the Construction Industry Training Authority and the Clothing Industry Training Authority.

The Correctional Services Industries provide work to adult prisoners as required by law. Employment keeps all convicted inmates, except those who are physically unfit for work, purposefully and gainfully occupied. Through work, prisoners develop good working habits and a sense of responsibility, build up self-confidence, learn how to work as a team and acquire the basic skills for different trades.

In 2005, a daily average of about 6 992 prisoners engaged in industrial work. Workshops in penal institutions provide a wide range of goods and services mainly for government departments and public organisations including government furniture and staff uniforms, including leather belts, briefcases and shoes, hospital linen, litter containers and traffic signs. There are also pre-cast concrete products such as paving blocks, slabs, cable covers and kerb stones for highways and infrastructure projects. Prisoners provide laundry services for hospitals, clinics and the ambulance depots, and they bind books for public libraries, undertake printing work and make file jackets and envelopes for some government departments. Production and services provided by the Correctional Services Industries amounted to the equivalent of $462 million in commercial value in 2005.

Prisoners' Welfare Officers in the CSD look after the welfare of detainees and prisoners, and help them to deal with personal problems and difficulties arising from detention or imprisonment. Apart from conducting individual and group counselling sessions, they assist in the establishment and running of hobby groups. They also organise activities such as pre-release reintegration orientation courses, meetings with the prisoners' families and with the supply of information on community resources.

The CSD runs a compulsory treatment programme for convicted drug addicts which provides the courts with an alternative to imprisonment. Male inmates are accommodated at Hei Ling Chau Addiction Treatment Centre and Lai Sun Correctional Institution, and females at the Hei Ling Chau Addiction Treatment Centre (Annex). Adult and young inmates are accommodated separately. An inmate undergoes in-centre treatment from two to 12 months, followed by one year's statutory after-care supervision. The programme is based on therapeutic treatment, discipline, work programmes, outdoor physical activities and comprehensive after-care service.

All institutions have their own hospitals providing basic medical treatment, health and dental care to inmates. Those requiring specialist treatment are either referred to visiting specialists or to specialist clinics in public hospitals.

Antenatal and postnatal care is provided in institutions for female inmates, but babies are normally delivered in public hospitals. Siu Lam Psychiatric Centre treats prisoners with mental health problems and offers psychiatric consultations and assessments for inmates on referral from other institutions and the courts.

Psychological services are provided to inmates to enhance their psychological well-being and to correct behaviour that leads them to reoffend. Clinical psychologists and trained officers provide special treatment programmes for inmates such as sex offenders, violent offenders, inmates with addiction problems and young offenders. They also provide assessment reports to the courts, review boards and institutional management to assist decision-making on the management and rehabilitation of offenders. To improve management and rehabilitative services for offenders, an empirically based protocol and clinical measures for assessing the custodial and reoffending risks of inmates as well as their rehabilitative needs were introduced in 2005.

After-care supervision is provided to people discharged from training, rehabilitation, detention and drug addiction treatment centres, discharged young prisoners subject to supervision under the Criminal Procedures Ordinance and prisoners discharged under the Release Under Supervision, Pre-release Employment and Post-release Supervision Schemes, as well as prisoners discharged under a conditional release order or post-release supervision order. The aim of after-care services is to facilitate supervisees' rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Rapport among the supervisees, their families and the after-care staff is cultivated to help the supervisees tackle obstacles in their path to rehabilitation.

Under the Release Under Supervision and Pre-release Employment Schemes, successful applicants may be discharged directly from prison for after-care supervision or permitted to go out to work and live in a hostel with after-care services. Both schemes aim at enabling suitable, eligible and motivated prisoners to serve their sentences in an open environment with supervision.

The Post-release Supervision Scheme provides after-care supervision for certain categories of adult prisoners to facilitate their rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Prisoners with indeterminate sentences may, before the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board makes recommendations as to whether their indeterminate sentences should be converted to determinate ones, be conditionally released under supervision for a specific period to test their determination and ability to lead a law-abiding life. Prisoners whose indeterminate sentences have been converted to determinate ones may also be ordered by the board to be placed under post-release supervision.

In 2005, 2 897 offenders were discharged under supervision. Together with those discharged in previous years and those yet to complete their supervision period, a total of 2 889 persons (2 596 males and 293 females) were under the CSD's supervision at the end of the year.

Success rates of the after-care programmes are measured by the percentage of supervisees completing supervision without reconviction or remaining drug-free if they are drug addiction treatment centre inmates. In 2005, the success rates were 96 per cent for detention centre inmates; 67 per cent for male training centre inmates; 83 per cent for female training centre inmates; 85 per cent for young male prisoners; 91 per cent for young female prisoners; 59 per cent for male drug addiction treatment centre inmates; 64 per cent for female drug addiction treatment centre inmates; 96 per cent for male rehabilitation centre inmates; 90 per cent for female rehabilitation centre inmates; 100 per cent for the Release Under Supervision Scheme; 100 per cent for the Pre-release Employment Scheme; 88 per cent for the Post-release Supervision Scheme and 100 per cent for those prisoners discharged under supervision after a release order.

Non-governmental organisations such as the Society of Rehabilitation and Crime Prevention, Hong Kong, Buddha's Light International Association of Hong Kong, Caritas Lok Heep Club, Hong Kong Christian Kun Sun Association, Christian Prison Pastoral Fellowship, Save the Children Hong Kong and Wu Oi Christian Centre provide services to help offenders and discharged inmates reintegrate into the community. Their services include case work, counselling, the provision of hostel accommodation, employment assistance, recreational activities and care of children whose parents are in custody.

Community acceptance and support is of paramount importance to the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into society. The Committee on Community Support for Rehabilitated Offenders, which consists of members of non-governmental organisations, government departments and professionals from various sectors of society, advises the Commissioner of Correctional Services on rehabilitation programmes and publicity strategies.

A series of publicity activities were organised to appeal for public support for rehabilitated offenders during the year. The major events included the joint community activities organised with the 18 District Fight Crime Committees, the production of DVDs for the third series of the TV documentary-drama, The Road Back, and publicity messages disseminated through TV, radio, water and electricity bills as well as posters on CSD's vehicles.

Information technology is used extensively in the CSD to improve its efficiency in institutional management, the Correctional Services Industries, rehabilitation services, human resources management, staff training and general administration. An e-learning platform has also been established to provide a variety of web-based training materials for staff. Continuous efforts are being made to enhance the quality and efficiency of prison management and various services through the introduction of new technologies.

The Quality Assurance Division of the department initiates quality management to improve operations by carrying out management studies, inspections and evaluation of services as well as updating departmental practices to bring them in line with the prevailing policy and the changing needs of the community.

Justices of the Peace visit each penal institution fortnightly or monthly, depending on the type of institutions. The Justices of the Peace receive and investigate complaints from prisoners, inspect diets and examine living and working conditions.

The Complaints Investigation Unit is responsible for handling and investigating complaints in relation to the department's work. All investigation reports are subject to the scrutiny of the Correctional Services Department Complaints Committee, chaired by the department's civil secretary. Inmates may also lodge complaints with any senior officers or duty officers of the department; or utilise other complaint channels such as contacting the visiting Justices of the Peace, The Ombudsman and the Legislative Councillors to redress their grievances.