CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
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In criminal cases, although the Legal Aid Department's professional officer's frequently act as instructing solicitor for an accused person or appellant, the advocacy work in court is done by legal practitioners in private practice. For civil cases, bar- risters are instructed and briefed wherever and whenever it is the normal legal practice to do so.
Since the beginning of the legal aid schemes in 1967, more than $22 million in compensation and damages have been received on behalf of legally aided persons. Many others have obtained divorces, maintenance provision and child custody orders. In addition, thousands of workers who had not been paid their wages, severance pay or wages in lieu of notice have benefited as a result of bankruptcy and company winding-up proceedings brought on their behalf.
The proper functioning of the legal aid schemes depends on the closest co-opera- tion between the Legal Aid Department, the Bar Association and the Law Society of Hong Kong. A large number of solicitors in private practice have now joined the various legal aid panels and virtually all members of the Hong Kong Bar (including Queen's Counsel) are prepared to take on both civil and criminal legal aid cases.
At present, about two-thirds of the population of Hong Kong is covered by the existing scheme in respect of civil cases. It is the government's intention eventually to extend the legal aid scheme to embrace a larger section of the community.
Urban Council
The Urban Council is a body corporate with its own ordinance and it is respon- sible for managing its own finances. It is the only body participating in the business of government in Hong Kong to consist solely of members of the public, and with an elected element. Its chairman and vice-chairman are elected from among 24 members -12 appointed by the Governor and 12 elected. The term of office of both appointed and elected members is four years, but a member may be re-appointed or re-elected for further terms.
The council meets in public once a month, but most of its business is decided by the standing committee of the whole council and 13 select committees which meet on average once a month. In addition, there are 17 sub-committees, boards and panels. These, and the select committees, co-opt such officials as are necessary, but each com- mittee is chaired by an urban councillor.
The Urban Council's responsibilities are restricted to Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Kowloon, which have a population of about 3.4 million. The council's main duties are: public sanitation and cleansing; the licensing and hygienic control of all food premises, offensive trades, bathhouses and laundries; and manage- ment and control of markets, abattoirs, hawkers, cemeteries, crematoria and funeral parlours. Other duties include: control and management of the City Hall, museums and football stadia; provision and management of public libraries and places of public recreation such as bathing beaches, swimming pools, tennis and squash courts, games halls, sports grounds, playgrounds and parks; provision and patronage of cultural services and outdoor entertainment; the licensing of places of public enter- tainment; and liquor licensing. In all these fields the council's policies and decisions