Hong Kong 2006 - The Legal System

Eligible applicants receive legal aid through the provision of the services of a solicitor and, if necessary, a barrister in court proceedings to ensure that a person who has reasonable grounds for pursuing or defending a legal action is not prevented from doing so by lack of means. Publicly funded legal aid services are provided through the Legal Aid Department and the Duty Lawyer Service.

The Legal Aid Department provides legal aid services to any person in Hong Kong, resident or non-resident, who satisfies the criteria for legal aid, namely the means test and merits test.

The Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme is available for representation in civil proceedings in the District Court, Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal and Court of Final Appeal covering proceedings relating to major areas of the livelihood of the community at large, including family and matrimonial disputes, personal injury claims, employment disputes, disputes related to landed properties, contractual disputes, immigration matters and professional negligence claims.

An applicant must pass the means and merits tests to qualify for legal aid. For the means test, the applicant must show that his financial resources, the aggregate of his annual disposable income and total disposable capital after deduction of certain statutory allowances, do not exceed $158,300. The Director of Legal Aid may waive the upper financial eligibility limit in meritorious cases where a breach of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance or an inconsistency with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong are at issue. For the merits test, the applicant must satisfy the Director of Legal Aid that he has reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the civil proceedings. An aided person may be required to pay a contribution depending on his financial resources and is required to pay costs if property is recovered or preserved on his behalf in the proceedings.

An applicant who is refused civil legal aid may appeal to the Registrar of the High Court, or in Court of Final Appeal cases, to a Review Committee.

During the year, 17 286 applications for legal aid were received, and legal aid was granted to 9 229 applicants. The Legal Aid Department's expenditure on civil cases was $303.1 million, and $663.6 million was recovered for the aided persons.

This scheme provides legal assistance to applicants whose financial resources exceed the ceiling stipulated in the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme but do not exceed $439,800. Under this scheme, legal aid is available for cases involving personal injury or death as well as medical, dental or legal professional negligence, where the claim for damages is likely to exceed $60,000. The scheme also covers claims under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance irrespective of the amount of the claim.

The scheme is self-financing and funded by contributions paid by aided persons and a percentage deducted from damages or compensation recovered on their behalf. In 2006, 137 applications for legal aid were received and legal aid was granted to 127 applicants. Expenditure was $4 million, and $28.1 million was recovered on behalf of the aided persons.

In criminal cases, legal aid is available for representation in proceedings in the Court of First Instance and the District Court, in committal proceedings in the Magistrates' Courts, in appeals from the Magistrates' Courts, and in appeals to the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal.

Legal aid is granted to applicants who pass the means test and if the Director of Legal Aid is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice for legal aid to be granted. The Director of Legal Aid has the discretion to grant legal aid in a criminal case even if the applicant's financial resources exceed the financial eligibility limit if he is satisfied that it is desirable in the interests of justice to do so, subject to payment of a contribution. An applicant who is refused legal aid on the ground of merits may apply to a judge for legal aid to be granted to him, provided that he passes the means test. Applicants charged with or convicted of murder, treason or piracy with violence, may apply to a judge not only for legal aid for the trial and appeal, but also for exemption from the means test or payment of a contribution.

Appeals against refusal of legal aid for appeals to the Court of Final Appeal are heard by a Review Committee chaired by the Registrar of the High Court and comprising a barrister and a solicitor. During the year, 3 779 applications for criminal legal aid were received and legal aid was granted to 2 357 applicants. Total expenditure on criminal cases was $113.8 million.

The Duty Lawyer Service operates the Legal Advice Scheme, the Duty Lawyer Scheme, the Legal Representation Scheme for Children/Juveniles Involved in Care or Protection Proceedings and the Tel-Law Scheme. It is subvented by the Government but independently administered by the legal profession of Hong Kong.

The Legal Advice Scheme provides free advice to members of the public without means testing at nine advice centres located in the District Offices. Members of the public can make appointments to see volunteer lawyers through one of the 29 referral agencies (with over 153 branches), which include all District Offices, Caritas Services Centres and the Social Welfare Department. A total of 6 422 people were given legal advice during the year by 949 volunteer lawyers participating in the scheme.

The Duty Lawyer Scheme provides legal representation to defendants who are charged in the magistracies. To be eligible for legal representation under the scheme, an applicant's gross annual income must not exceed $118,750. However, the Administrator of the Duty Lawyer Service has a discretion to grant legal representation to defendants whose gross annual income exceeds this limit, if it is considered to be in the interests of justice to do so. Applicants are also subject to a merits test. The prime consideration is whether the defendant is in jeopardy of losing his liberty or whether a substantial question of law is involved.

The scheme assigns barristers and solicitors to advise defendants facing extradition and to represent persons who are at risk of criminal prosecution as a result of giving incriminating evidence in Coroner's inquests. They are also assigned to represent hawkers at the hearing of their appeals to the Municipal Services Appeals Board.

In 2006, 1 529 barristers and solicitors were on the duty lawyer panel and 40 067 persons were represented under the Duty Lawyer Scheme.

Legal representation is also offered to children/juveniles in care or protection proceedings who are deprived or likely to be deprived of their liberty under the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance. In 2006, 679 children/juveniles were represented under this scheme (including 565 new cases and 114 cases carried forward from 2005).

The Tel-Law Scheme offers taped legal information to the public in Cantonese, Putonghua and English. The tapes cover various aspects of law including matrimonial, landlord and tenant, criminal, financial, employment, environmental and administrative law. They are updated regularly and new tapes are added when new subjects are identified as being of interest to the public.

The Legal Aid Services Council is an independent statutory body established to advise the Chief Executive of the HKSAR on legal aid policies. Chaired by a non-official who is not in the legal profession, members include barristers and solicitors, lay members and the Director of Legal Aid, to facilitate a balanced representation of views. To facilitate its work, the council has set up various working parties and interest groups. During the year, aside from the Administration's regular reviews on legal aid matters, such as annual review on financial eligibility limits of legal aid applicants, the council has deliberated and offered its views on various other issues, such as conditional fees arrangements for lawyers. The council also operates an assistance scheme under which a legal aid applicant seeking to appeal to the Court of Final Appeal may apply for a counsel's certificate for a review of the Director of Legal Aid's refusal to grant legal aid on the grounds of merit.

To commemorate the council's 10th anniversary, a book entitled 'Legal Aid in Hong Kong' has been published. The aim of the book is to provide a relatively comprehensive and concise record of the development of the legal aid system in Hong Kong.

The Director of Legal Aid was appointed the Official Solicitor under the Official Solicitor Ordinance which took effect on August 1, 1991.

The Official Solicitor's main duties are to act as guardian ad litem or next friend, in legal proceedings for persons under disability of age or mental capacity, as representative of deceased persons' estates for the purpose of legal proceedings, as Official Trustee and Judicial Trustee, to act as committee of the estate of mentally incapacitated persons, to represent any party in care or protection proceedings and to act on behalf of a person committed to prison for contempt who is unable or unwilling to apply on his own behalf for release. The Official Solicitor's caseload for 2005-2006 was 356, an increase of 8 per cent over the previous financial year.