Non-government organizations (NGOs) yesterday urged the legislature to make domestic violence a criminal offence.

With the number of domestic violence cases on the rise, the only effective deterrent will be to prosecute the perpetrators, the NGOs told lawmakers at a Legislative Council subcommittee meeting on strategy and measures to tackle family violence.

The NGOs called for an uniform policy in prosecuting family violence and criminal offences.

Most family violence cases didn't get prosecuted with only binding-over orders imposed, the NGOs alleged.

Frontline social workers had come across many complaints lodged by family violence victims against the way the police handle such cases.

"In fact, some victims have disputed decisions by lower-rank police officers that their cases involved no criminal offence," said the social work officer grade branch of the Chinese Civil Servants' Association.

"We suggest such decisions be made by police officers at the inspector level or above, and such decisions be fully explained to the victims."

At the same meeting, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions John Reading said prosecution has to depend on whether there is sufficient evidence to make a criminal case.

To reduce prosecutors' dependence on police officers for evidence, the Department of Justice will seek legal amendment allowing prosecutors to talk to the victims, he said.

However, Chief police superintendent Ng Kam-wing disagreed with the assumption that binding-over order is an ineffective deterrent.

Of the 343 binding-over cases in the first half of June, the number of repeated offenders was only 5.8 percent, he said.

(HK Edition 12/08/2007 page4)