THE LEGAL SYSTEM
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the cases are assigned either to a lawyer in private practice or in the department's Litigation Division.
Following a comprehensive review of the law, policy and practice governing the provision of legal aid services, a number of amendments were made to the Legal Aid Ordinance in June 1995 to expand the scope and to improve the operation of the legal aid scheme. The upper limit of the financial eligibility for legal aid was raised from $120,000 to $144,000 to take account of inflation since 1992. The scope of the legal aid service was also extended to give the Director of Legal Aid discretion to waive the upper financial eligibility limit in any meritorious civil case in which a breach of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance or an inconsistency of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as applied to Hong Kong is an issue, including those election petitions which involve Bill of Rights or ICCPR issues. Legal aid was also extended to those persons making applications to the Mental Health Review Tribunal against detention in a mental hospital or psychiatric centre and applications to the Motor Insurers' Bureau for payment of compensation in hit-and-
run cases.
Legal Aid in Civil Cases
In civil cases, apart from financial eligibility, an applicant must satisfy the Director of Legal Aid that he has reasonable grounds for pursuing or defending a legal action. Legal aid is available for a wide range of civil proceedings, including matrimonial cases, traffic accident claims, landlord and tenant disputes, claims in respect of industrial accidents, employees' compensation, immigration matters, breach of con- tract and professional negligence.
Admiralty, bankruptcy and companies winding-up proceedings are also undertaken by the Legal Aid Department. The majority of these cases deal with employees' wages and severance pay.
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 department's total expenditure for 1995 was $133 million in civil cases. During the year, 21 100 applications were received, and 7 700 were granted legal aid. Altogether, $470 million was recovered for the aided persons.
Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme
The Director of Legal Aid also operates the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, which provides legal assistance to persons whose resources exceed the financial limits under the standard legal aid scheme but are not sufficient to meet the high costs of conducting litigation on a private basis. The scheme is self-financing, funded by contributions from damages or compensation recovered. The scheme is available for civil claims in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and certain claims in the District Court for employees' compensation and for damages for death or personal injuries. Total expenditure on the scheme in 1995 was $5 million, 100 applications were received, and 75 were granted legal aid.
In June 1995, the Legal Aid Ordinance was also amended to increase the eligibility limits and expand the scope of the scheme. The upper financial limit was increased from $280,000 to $400,000 to take account of inflation since the inception of the scheme in 1984. The scope of the scheme was also expanded to cover claims involving professional negligence on the part of medical doctors, dentists and lawyers. A capital