As society ages, issues relating to older persons are surfacing and
gaining public attention. Abuse of the elderly is among those issues
causing great concern in Hong Kong. Although Hong Kong is a Chinese
community where older persons are supposedly greatly respected, a
fair number of cases of abuse of the elderly have been recorded. Like
any member of any society, elderly people have the right to be free
from mistreatment in their own families or in institutions. Enacting
protective legislation is one of the ways used to deal with or prevent
abuse of the elderly. Countries like Singapore and China have used
different legal approaches. Singapore has adopted an adversary process
where disputes between parents and children have to be resolved in
courts using evidence. China has adopted a gradual approach where
disputes are initially managed using public sanctions (e.g. neighbours
can openly condemn those children who do not respect their parents,
street-level commune officials can publicly display the names of people
who do not support their parents), and ultimately dealt with by the law
courts. Legislation aiming to protect elderly people is being proposed
in Hong Kong (e.g. to extend the coverage of the Domestic Violence
Ordinance to people aged 60 and over). This paper analyses the pros
and cons of applying the adversary process when dealing with abuse
of the elderly and China’s experience with similar abuse. The purposes
and contents of Hong Kong’s legislative response to abuse of the elderly
are discussed.

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