The Law Reform Commission today published a report on Sentencing & Related Matters in the Review of Sexual Offences.

The report made final recommendations on the penalties for various offences proposed in the report on Review of Substantive Sexual Offences (Report on Sexual Offences), the reform and strengthening of treatment and rehabilitation services for sex offenders in Hong Kong and the optimisation of the Sexual Conviction Record Check Scheme (SCRC Scheme).

Final recommendations contained in the report include the current penalties for the existing offences of rape and incest should continue to apply to the recommended offences of sexual penetration without consent and incest.

There is no final recommendation on the penalties for the proposed offences of voyeurism and non-consensual upskirt-photography as the Legislative Council had already enacted the Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 which covers, among others, the offences of voyeurism and non-consensual photography of intimate parts or private acts.

Additionally, the newly issued report recommended that the current specialised treatment and rehabilitation programmes for sex offenders available on a voluntary basis at the Correctional Services Department should be maintained.

The Government should review and consider the introduction of an incentive scheme for sex offenders in correctional institutions for increasing motivation for treatment and behavioural change.

The provision of specialised post-release supervision to discharged sex offenders under the existing statutory schemes administered by the Post-Release Supervision Board and the Long-term Prison Sentences Review Board should be maintained.

Meanwhile, the commission recommended that the current SCRC Scheme should be optimised by extending it to cover all existing employees, self-employed persons and volunteers, and the Government should extend the SCRC Scheme to its fullest and evaluate the need to make it a mandatory scheme at an appropriate time.

The other final recommendation contained is the SCRC Scheme should not be extended to include "spent" convictions in order to give offenders of relatively minor sexual offences the chance to rehabilitate in accordance with the spirit of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Ordinance (Cap 297).

The report follows a study by the commission’s Review of Sexual Offences Sub-committee, which issued a consultation paper on sentencing and related matters in November 2020.

Click here for the full report and the executive summary.