Central Magistracy

Central Magistracy

Duration

15 MINS

Checkpoint

3 Checkpoints

Introduction

The Magistrate’s house, built for the then Chief Magistrate Captain William Caine in 1841, was one of the first buildings erected on this site. This route takes you to visit today’s third-generation courthouse, constructed in 1914, to learn about the fundamental role that Central Magistracy played in the development of Hong Kong’s judicial system.

2 Checkpoints
15 Minutes


3-1 Evolution of Central Magistracy

Waiting for trial
This is the original holding cell where people were held before trial. The two long benches, on each side of the wall, were where they awaited their trials.

In the mid-1970s, during the exodus of boat people from Vietnam, many who got into trouble were held here and you can still see their graffiti on the walls.

A storeroom that tells time
Next to the holding cell was a storeroom, and this is now used to illustrate the evolution of Central Magistracy.

Monkey business
Some of the stories over the years are quite amusing.

For example, in 1916, a monkey caused some disruption in the courtroom during a trial. Far from being an illegal intruder, it was later discovered that the simian visitor actually belonged to Chief Detective Inspector Murison from Central Police Station.

Shoedown
In the middle of the timeline, you will see a drawing of a shoe, suggesting an interesting incident in 1970.

An irate defendant was so upset that he took off one of his shoes and hurled it at the presiding magistrate Arthur Garcia. The court was not amused and the defendant got an additional 6-month sentence for contempt of court. However, the sentence was not imposed by Magistrate Garcia, but by Magistrate Paul Corfe, who valued the dignity of the court.

End of an era
Central Magistracy was decommissioned in 1979, after which it was used as Supreme Court Annex, the International Arbitration Centre, offices for the Immigration Department, and venues for police clubs and associations.

Life in Central Magistracy 
At the end of the timeline, you can see a video of former court officers who worked here in the 1960s and 1970s sharing their true stories.


3-2 The Court Rises

A court reborn
After Central Magistracy was decommissioned in 1979, most of the original furnishings were torn down. As cameras were forbidden in the court, there were no photographic records. So the stylised courtroom furniture you see today was recreated from the reminiscences of those employed in the court back then.

The dock, located in the middle of the courtroom, was reached by a staircase leading up from the basement holding cell. This was not a secret passage, as some have claimed. In fact it was widely known and discussed in the press, especially during the trial of Cheng Yuet-ying, the wife of the notorious drug-trafficking triad gangster known as Limpy Ho.

Look around the courtroom, you will see the lawyers’ desk, the court clerk’s and the interpreter’s bench in the middle, while the bench for the press is on one side.

Take a seat, and from the large projection behind the Magistrate’s bench, you can learn about the story of a 1915 case tried in the Magistracy by Magistrate Lindsell. In this case the foreign defendant was charged with refusing to pay a rickshaw driver and assaulting the police constable who intervened in the altercation.