Like most other parts of Asia, Hong Kong has experienced an increase in crime and a decline in the rate of detection by police in recent years. Its rate of serious crime is by far the highest among Asian countries. Chinese crime syndicates called triads give organized crime in Hong Kong a distinctive characteristic. Hong Kong has no comprehensive codified criminal law; the main sources of law are the common law and a large number of criminal statutes. Criminal acts are classified into seven main groups. Punishment and sentencing are regarded almost exclusively as retaliatory and deterrent measures. However, Hong Kong has had to accept the research findings that imprisonment is extremely limited as an effective means of preventing recidivism. Punishment can include corporal punishment and capital punishment. Hong Kong has 19 correctional institutions for criminal offenders. The country has no official system of assistance for discharged inmates who have served their full prison sentence. Hong Kong will come under the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China on July 1, 19987 and will be a special region with the right to choose its own economic, social, and legal policy. It is not clear whether the current system will remain the same, but it is likely that death sentences will no longer be converted into life or fixed-term prison sentences. Footnotes