The introduction of harsher punishment alone might not be the sole measure that can be used to rein in rising crime despite the number of cases that inundated the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) last judicial year, the office’s Prosecutor General Ip Son Sang claimed.
His remarks came yesterday during a ceremony welcoming a fresh legal year, in which the top prosecutor admitted that the number of criminal cases they have handled soared by 5.38 percent to 14,435, while cases pending settlement stands at 14,317 in 2015.
“In fact, the annual cases on our record has been picking up since 2010,” said Ip. Of the 5,530 prosecuted between September 2014 and August this year, half of them have been locals. According to the official statistics provided, the offences chiefly revolve around money-related crimes, illegal migration and assault.
The prosecutor praised the authorities’ efforts early this year to optimize their internal regime, yet noted that anti-crime policies or related penalties ought to be formulated in a “people-oriented” way, instead of blindly pursuing heavier punishment.
Ip also noted a dramatic hike in industrial accidents last year, a total of 527 cases compared to the 338 cases recorded in 2013. “We think that employers and their employees, or even the regulator should hold this issue in high regard to avoid reoccurrence,” he said. AU
MP | Harsher punishment is not sole remedy to curb rising crime rate
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Macau
It is well known that progressivly increasing penalties does not result in lower crime. If anything the rejection of the criminal by society leads to further disconnection between the two and impedes their reintegration into society at the end of the sentence.
The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, yet this does not eliminate crime. People commit crimes mainly due to the conditions in which they live their lives. It is these conditions which need to be considered and improved worldwide.
Kudos to Ip Son Sang for recognising this, we can only hope our legislators can take this on board when considering how to reduce crime in Macau.