Moreover, it seems to me that we cannot, when dealing with a social service of this kind, overlook the general level of social services in Hong Kong and the extent to which a society such as ours should be expected to match the level of the services provided in more affluent communities.
I would be disposed to appoint a working party for the purpose of considering and making recommendations in these matters. For this purpose, I would have in mind a working party consisting of:-
(1) A Puisne Judge as Chairman;
(2) The Registrar, Supreme Court; (3) The Director of Legal Aid;
(4) A representative of the Attorney General;
(5) A representative of the Hong Kong Bar Assoica-
tion; and
(6) A representative of the Law Society of Hong
Kong.
We have collected on our files a certain amount of material relating to fees paid for legal aid in England, Scot- land and Ireland which could be made available to this working party and it may well be desirable to obtain addi- tional information from elsewhere, e.g. Australia and Singapore.
I should be glad to have your views on this proposal. Meanwhile, pending a more thorough investigation, do you think there would be any advantage in replacing the present fixed fees of $300 and $750 by a scale along some such lines as the follows:-
(1) a case not lasting more than one day $300 to cover
the brief and the first day;
(2) a case lasting two days $500 to cover brief and
first day; and
(3) a case lasting more than two days $750 to cover
the brief and first day?
Yours sincerely
(Sd.) MICHAEL HOGAN
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