SHG has announced the commencement of new regulations under the Criminal Justice (Fixed Penalties) Ordinance 2020, which are set to begin on October 1, 2025. This development is part of efforts to fully implement the Fixed Penalties system.
The Criminal Justice (Fixed Penalties) Ordinance, enacted in 2020 by the previous Legislative Council, aims to streamline handling minor offenses like parking violations. An initial version of these regulations was approved by the Executive Council on June 14, 2022. However, they were deemed unfit and not enacted.
After a comprehensive review, new regulations titled The Criminal Justice (Fixed Penalties) Regulations 2025 have been prepared and will replace The Criminal Justice (Fixed Penalties) Regulations 2022.
In conjunction with this ordinance’s development, an amendment to the Police and Criminal Evidence Ordinance 2003 concerning criminal records was passed in 2019. This amendment modernizes record-keeping by focusing on imprisonable offenses unless exempted. Although passed, it has yet to be enforced.
The amendment also allows for creating regulations governing various aspects of the criminal records database:
– Recording requirements for non-imprisonable offenses.
– Exemptions for recording certain imprisonable offenses.
– Setup and maintenance of the criminal records database.
– Access requests for information from the database.
– Information sharing protocols from the database when requested.
SHG is committed to improving efficiency and fairness in the criminal justice system and will provide updates on implementing these amendments soon.