The penal system of Hong Kong, with its colonial tradition, is responsible for carrying out criminal penalties and the supervision and rehabilitation of former prisoners.
Hong Kong's prisons meet basic international criteria and attract less criticism than those in mainland China. After Hong Kong's transition to Chinese control in 1997, its prison system retained the basic lines of the British system. The system's personnel is distinguished by its professionalism and the vast majority holds to high ethical and moral standards. The prisons do not have the crowding and insanitary conditions usual in Asia (in 2013 the average occupancy level was 80% of capacity, down from 96% in 2008), and the overall number of inmates is steadily falling (in 1997 - 12,300, 2013 - 9,200).
In 2014 Hong Kong's prisons had 8,906 inmates. 18.6% were in preliminary detention. Women made up 19.7%, adolescents of both sexes 3.4%, foreigners 26.4%. Of each 100,000 of Hong Kong's population, 123 were prisoners (by comparison: mainland China 172, Ukraine 213, Russia 470, USA 707).
History Until 1950
In April 1841, with the start of British rule in Hong Kong, Captain William Cane was appointed chief justice and given control of the police and prisons of the new colony. The first prison, named Victoria Prison, opened on the island in August 1841. September 1853 saw the first legislation about prisons in Hong Kong. Limitations on food were introduced as a form of punishment for prisoners in 1876 (Europeans got bread and water; Chinese got rice and water). Public executions were banned after the last took place in April 1894. The British transported some Chinese prisoners to do hard labour in Australia.
In December 1920 Hong Kong's places of detention were transferred to the responsibility of the newly created department of prisons. In April 1932 a new women's prison was opened in the Lai Chi area. In January 1937 work began on a prison in Stanley, at that time one of the best prisons in the British Empire, with six blocks, enough for 1,500 inmates. In 1938 the department began early release on parole for a trial period. In December 1946 a correctional institute was opened for boys aged between 8 and 16. In April 1948 matters of parole were transferred to a social security office, created by the Secretary for Chinese affairs (in 1958 it was renamed the Department for Social Security).
1950s
In March 1953, work began on the Stanley educational centre for young offenders. In May 1953, Hong Kong prisons started to operate a savings scheme, replacing the hand-outs previously paid to prisoners on their release. This system encouraged inmates to work. As an incentive to inmates in the Stanley and Lai Chi prisons, visits by relatives were introduced in 1955. (Previously prisoners had gone to a cage at the main gate and shouted to visitors through two mesh fences, between which guards patrolled.).
A prison opened at Chi Ma Wan on Lantau Island in 1956. In 1958 the first training school was opened for those working in the prison system. In the same year they introduced a voluntary supervision system for drug-users released from the Tai Lam prison.
1960s In 1960-61 prison officers stopped carrying firearms on duty.
In November 1966 after its last use, Hong Kong introduced a moratorium on the death penalty (From 1946 to 1966, 122 criminals sentenced to the maximum punishment were hanged in the prison at Stanley).
In August 1968 New Life House opened as the first communal dwelling for rehabilitation of formerly-imprisoned drug users. The relevant decision was signed to start a drug dependency treatment programme and open a treatment centre at Tai Lam in January 1969. A numbering system for the admission of criminal lawyers was introduced in January 1971. In March 1972 the imprisonment centre was opened at Sha Tsui, and in November, the Sui Lam psychiatric centre.
1970s In 1974, physical punishment by caning was introduced for prisoners exhibiting disciplinary problems. In January 1975, a welfare programme for prisoners.In July 1976 the prison administration began to offer prisoners psychological help. After the conclusion of the Vietnam War a flood of Vietnamese refugees streamed into Hong Kong, for which the authorities had to open several camps. In January 1978 the prison department took over the refugee camp at Kai Tak. A department for investigating prisoner complaints opened in March 1979.
1980s In February 1980 the prison department organised the first Asia-Pacific conference for prison administrators. A correctional institute for female young offenders opened in May 1980. In 1981 corporal and dietary punishments were removed from the prison rules.
In February 1982 the Hong Kong Prison Department became the Correctional Services Department, in an attempt to emphasise its role in the rehabilitation of offenders.
In July 1983 Phoenix House opened, a communal halfway house to help put young offenders on the right path.
In August 1984 Bauhinia House opened, communal halfway house for the rehabilitation of women.
In March 1985 the first meeting of prison administrators from the Commonwealth of Nations took place in Hong Kong.
In 1986 the Pik Uk correctional institute for young prisoners administered school exams under supervision by government experts.
In February 1988 Hong Kong joined the agreement on the relocation of sentences developed in Strasbourg in 1983.
In July 1988 the first early-release schemes (the Supervision Scheme and the Pre-release Employment Scheme) came into force.
In December 1989 repatriation from Hong Kong started of the first parties of Vietnamese refugees. In November 1990 corporal punishment on Hong Kong prisons was finally forbidden.
1990-97 In February 1995 Pelican House opened - a communal halfway house for the rehabilitation of adult men.
In October 1995, the program of halfway houses (communal residences) for those on the path of correction was expanded to include young offenders convicted of drug trafficking.
In November 1996, the Post-Release Supervision of Prisoners Scheme was introduced.
In January 1997, a resolution on the review of long prison sentences was issued, according to which all ambiguous sentences and long sentences for many categories of prisoners were verified.
In May 1997, amendments were passed that significantly relaxed restrictions on prisoners' correspondence.
1997-2000 In July 1997, the new coat of arms of the Department of Correctional Services was approved.
In January 1998, a new unit dedicated to the rehabilitation of former prisoners was established.
In March 1998, an amendment to the Criminal Code came into force, by which prisoners who had committed murder as teenagers and been sentenced to life imprisonment could expect to have their sentences commuted by a special decision of the Supreme Court.
In September 1998, a unit for the evaluation and treatment of sex offenders was opened at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Center.
In April 1999, the Department of Correctional Services added a position in charge of environmental programs.
In June 1999, the Department of Correctional Services opened a new dog training facility on Hei Ling Chau Island.
In October 1999, the new Pak Sha Wan Correctional Facility opened. In the same month, a large-scale campaign was launched to encourage society to give rehabilitated criminals a second chance in life.
In November 1999, the Committee for Public Support of Rehabilitated Criminals was established.
In December 1999, the Hong Kong Correctional Services Industry received an ISO 9002 quality certificate.
Since 2000
In August 2000, the Prisoner Complaints Investigation Department and the Inspection and Management Unit were awarded the ISO 9002 Quality Certificate. In February 2001, the Personnel and Training Division was reorganized and renamed the Human Resources Division, and in January 2002, the Inspection and Management Division was renamed the Quality Assurance Division. In July 2002, a decree was signed on the establishment of rehabilitation centers. At the same time, the first such center was established - Lai Chi on Lantau Island.
In the same month, the prison complex on the island of Hei Ling Chau received the ISO 14001 standard for its environmental control system.
In November 2002, the Department of Correctional Services Museum opened in Stanley, next to the prison of the same name and the Prison Staff Training Institute.
Also in November 2002, the charity organization "Association for the Care of Rehabilitated Criminals" was founded. Its main purposes were to publicise the problems and needs of former prisoners, and to organize assistance in adapting to life after release. In September 2003, the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department Training Institute signed a cooperation agreement with the Mainland Central Correctional Police Institute. In December 2003, the department hosted the 23rd Asia-Pacific Conference of Correctional Administrators in Hong Kong, which was attended by about 100 delegates from 25 countries.
In February 2005, the drug storage and distribution system at the Siu Lam Psychiatric Center was certified conforming to ISO 9001.
In March 2005, the second Guangdong-Hong Kong Prison Forum was held in Hong Kong. In the same month, the Lo Wu Correctional Facility closed and was later moved to another location.
The Castle Peak Bay Immigration Center opened in August 2005.
In December 2005, the oldest penal institution in Hong Kong, Victoria Prison, was shut down.
In July 2006, the Lai Chi Kok Correctional Facility opened, and a vocational training center opened at the Lai San Correctional Facility. In May 2008, the Taitam Gap Correctional Facility closed, which was later moved to another location, and the Lai King Correctional Facility began operating. In February 2009, the industrial section of the department was reorganized into the Industrial and Vocational Training Section, subordinate to the rehabilitation division. In June 2009, the Sachey Detention Center was renamed a correctional facility. In October 2009, amendments to Hong Kong law were adopted, according to which prisoners with voting rights were allowed to vote in local government elections. The first elections in Hong Kong correctional institutions were held in 2013.
In January 2010 a modern production and educational complex opened at the ik Ukp rison. In February 2010 МMapoupinprison and the Tong Fuk Centre merged into the Tong Fuk Medium Security Correctional Facility, and a separate unit of the Hei Ling Chau Drug Treatment Center was converted into the Nei Kwu Women's Correctional Facility. In April 2010, the Castle Peak Bay Immigration Center came under the jurisdiction of the Hong Kong Immigration Department (however, employees of the Department of Correctional Services continue to work in the center, guarding blocks for detained illegal immigrants). The updated Lo Wu Correctional Institution opened in August 2010, after a major reconstruction, and in March 2011 a psychological gymnasium opened within it.
In April 2011, Hong Kong hosted the next prison forum of the penitentiary departments of Beijing, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. In March 2012, a new detention block was opened at the Lai Chi Kok Reception Center. In January 2013, the Tung Tau Correctional Facility became the first "non-smoking" adult male prison in Hong Kong. In March 2013, Lai Chi Kok Prison opened Hong Kong's second psychological services center for staff and their families. In April 2013, the Lo Wu Correctional Facility launched a program to reduce food waste. In June 2013, the department opened its first collection center for prisoners ' urine samples.
The Department of Correctional Services