The Official Solicitor

The Director of Legal Aid was appointed the first Official Solicitor when
the Official Solicitor Ordinance Cap. 416 came into force on August 1,
1991.

The Official Solicitor's Office was established to perform the duties of the
Official Solicitor which mainly include acting as guardian ad litem or next
friend for persons under disability of age or mental capacity in legal
proceedings, as representative of deceased persons' estates for the
purpose of legal proceedings, as Official Trustee and Judicial Trustee,
representing patients in proceedings under the Mental Health Ordinance,
representing children in matrimonial proceedings and in the Juvenile
Court. At July 1997, the Official Solicitor had received 456 requests for
his representation in such cases. The Official Solicitor assigned less than
5 per cent of the cases to private lawyers and litigated the balance himself.

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