32
CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION
compensation, immigration matters and every branch of family law ranging from divorce, separation, maintenance and custody to wardship, all lie within the scope and jurisdiction of the department. Cases such as admiralty, bankruptcy and companies winding-up proceedings are also undertaken together with a large number of general litigation cases involving landlord and tenant, breach of contract and professional negligence. An applicant who is refused legal aid may appeal against such refusal to the Registrar of the Supreme Court or in Privy Council cases to a committee of review.
The total estimated expenditure for 1985-6 was $22 million in civil cases. In all, 14 359 applications were received for legal aid in civil matters, of which 4 942 were granted legal aid with a sum of $72 million being recovered for aided clients in civil cases.
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Legal aid is available for criminal proceedings in the District Courts, High Court, Court of Appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and for representation at proceedings in the Magistrates' Courts where the prosecution is seeking committal of a defendant to the High Court for trial. The majority of accused persons in the courts are legally aided. For High Court criminal trials, legal aid is invariably given subject to financial eligibility - because of the severity of the charge coupled with the possible gravity of sentence. Legal aid can also be given to conduct pleas in mitigation of sentence. For appeals against conviction of murder, irrespective of whether there are grounds of appeal, legal aid is mandatory. For all other criminal appeals, including appeals from the decisions of magistrates, legal aid will be given again subject to financial eligibility, if the Director of Legal Aid is satisfied that there are arguable grounds of appeal. A person who is refused legal aid on a criminal matter may nevertheless be granted legal aid - subject to financial eligibility - by a trial judge or by the Court of Appeal or, in relation to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, by a committee of review.
The total estimated expenditure in 1985-6 was $21.6 million in criminal cases. In all, 3 276 applications were received for legal aid in criminal cases, and 1 894 were granted.
If a person is granted legal aid, the Director of Legal Aid will assign the matter either to a private solicitor, and a barrister where necessary, or to one of his own professional officers.
Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme
The Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme provides legal assistance to those persons in the 'sandwich' class, whose means place them outside the financial limits for legal aid but are not sufficient to meet the high cost of conducting litigation on a private basis. This scheme, introduced in October 1984, is limited to claims in the High Court for damages for
personal injuries or death. Under this scheme, applicants may be granted legal aid if their gross income does not exceed $15,000 per month and their total assets, excluding the value of an owner occupied residence and other allowances, do not exceed $100,000. The scheme is financed by a fund established by a loan from the Government Lotteries Fund and it is a condition of being granted legal aid under this scheme that applicants agree to make a con- tribution of a percentage of any damages recovered for them, such percentage depending on the amount recovered and whether or not the case is settled prior to the trial of the action. This percentage ranges from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.
The total estimated expenditure in 1985-6 was $100,000. Since inception of the scheme, 111 applications have been received, and 34 have been granted.
Legal Advice and Duty Lawyer Schemes
The Law Society has, since 1978, administered two schemes which provide free legal advice in civil law matters and free legal representation to defendants for certain criminal cases