Legal Aid in Civil Cases

Legal aid is available for representation in proceedings for most types of
civil cases heard in District Court, the Court of First Instance of the High
Court, the Court of Appeal of the High Court and the Hong Kong Court of
Final Appeal. It is also available for applications to the Mental Health
Review Tribunal and in certain landlord and tenant matters in the Lands
Tribunal.

Apart from financial eligibility, an applicant must satisfy the Director of
Legal Aid that he has reasonable grounds for pursuing or defending a civil
legal action. Legal aid is available for a wide range of civil proceedings,
including matrimonial cases, traffic accident claims, landlord and tenant
disputes, claims in respect of industrial accidents, employees'
compensation, immigration matters, breach of contract and professional
negligence.

Admiralty, bankruptcy and companies winding-up proceedings are also
undertaken by the Legal Aid Department. Most of these cases are related
to employees' wages and severance pay.

An applicant who is refused legal aid may appeal to the Registrar of the
High Court; or in Court of Final Appeal cases, to a committee of review.
The department's total expenditure for 1997 was $297 million in civil
cases. During the year, 27 440 applications were received, and 15 072
were granted legal aid. Altogether, $845 million was recovered for the
aided persons.

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