THE LEGAL SYSTEM
Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme for Civil Cases
Ordinary legal aid is available for representation in civil proceedings in the Court of Final Appeal, Court of Appeal, Court of First Instance and District Court. It is also available for certain other matters such as tenancy matters under Part II of the Landlord and Tenant (Consolidation) Ordinance in the Lands Tribunal and applications to the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
The range of civil proceedings covered includes family and matrimonial disputes, personal injury claims, employment disputes, tenancy disputes, contractual disputes, immigration matters and professional negligence claims. Admiralty, bankruptcy and company winding-up proceedings for the claim of wages and severance pay are also undertaken. Most of these cases relate to employees' wages and severance pay.
Applicants must pass means and merits tests to qualify for legal aid. For the means test, the applicant must show that his financial resources, i.e. annual disposable income and total capital assets after deduction of certain statutory allowances, do not exceed $169,700. The Director of Legal Aid may waive the upper financial eligibility limit in meritorious cases involving the Hong Kong Bill of Rights or an inconsistency with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong. For the merits test, the applicant must satisfy the Director of Legal Aid that he has reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the civil proceedings. Depending on the financial resources of the aided person and whether property has been recovered or preserved on his behalf, the aided person may be required to contribute towards the costs of the proceedings.
Upon the granting of legal aid, the aided person's case is assigned either to a lawyer in private practice or to a lawyer of the Legal Aid Department. The Director of Legal Aid has the responsibility to monitor the progress and expenditure of the cases assigned out. An applicant who is refused legal aid may appeal to the Registrar of the High Court, or in Court of Final Appeal cases, to a Committee of Review. The decision in either event is final.
During the year, 21 525 applications for civil legal aid were received and 8 799 were granted. The Legal Aid Department's expenditure on civil cases was $407 million and $1,092 million was recovered for the aided persons.
Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme
This scheme provides legal assistance to applicants whose financial resources exceed the ceiling stipulated in the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme but do not exceed $471,600. Legal aid is available to cases of personal injury and death and medical, dental and legal professional negligence, where the claim for damages is likely to exceed $60,000. The scheme also covers claims under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance irrespective of the amount of the claim.
The scheme is self-financing and is funded by legal aid contributions and damages or compensation recovered. In 2000, 211 applications were received and 204 of them were granted. Expenditure was $25 million and $114 million was recovered on behalf of the aided persons.
Legal Aid in Criminal Cases
In criminal cases, legal aid is available for representation in proceedings in the Court of First Instance and the District Court, in committal proceedings in the Magistrates'
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