HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL — 22 February 1989
香港立法局—————————— 一九八九年二月二十二日
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show that he has reasonable grounds for bringing, continuing or defending proceedings.
In the case to which Mrs. CHOW has referred, the applicant made a statutory declaration that he had been dismissed from his employment as a bank clerk and was, at the time of making the application, unemployed. On the information available as to his actual and anticipated income and commitments he satisfied the means test.
As regards the merits of the case, the decision by a legal aid officer to determine if there are reasonable grounds is a matter of professional judgement subject to appeal in the event of refusal. That judgement is often supported by an opinion of counsel in private practice. In the present case it was the opinion of counsel that the applicant had a defence to the proceedings brought against him, and the fact that he had sustained a loss in the futures market was not a ground for refusal of legal aid in the light of the proposed defence.
The Administration therefore does not consider that there is a need to review the criteria for the grant of legal aid in the light of this particular case.
MRS. CHOW: Sir, will the existing criteria be reviewed in the light of comments by Mr. Justice Jones specifically for cases where, and I quote: "the legally aided person was clearly the author of his own misfortune"?
SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES AND INFORMATION: Sir, the principle of providing legal aid is to ensure that a person is not deprived, because of limited means, of legal representation in litigation, and thereby access to justice. Any suggestion to restrict the scope of legal aid must be considered carefully so that it does not impair its usefulness and effectiveness. In general, it is not appropriate, in the opinion of the Administration, to lay down in specific terms the type of cases which should be excluded as the circumstances of each case may be different.
MRS. CHOW: Sir, in several cases where negotiation for settlement occurs between the two parties are efforts made to encourage the applicant to settle out of court so as to save costs as far as possible so that public money would not be wasted in lengthy hearings?