THE LEGAL SYSTEM
and to represent hawkers at the hearing of their appeals to the Municipal Services Appeals Board.
More than 1 220 barristers and solicitors were on the duty lawyer roster and 40 068 defendants were represented under the Duty Lawyer Scheme in 2000.
The Tel-Law Scheme offers taped legal information to the public in Cantonese, Putonghua and English. The tapes cover various aspects of law including matrimonial, landlord and tenant, criminal, financial, employment, environmental and administrative law. They are constantly updated and new tapes are added when new subjects are identified as being of interest to the public. During the year, 73 topics were available and 63 873 calls were received.
Legal Aid Services Council
The Legal Aid Services Council is an independent statutory body established to advise the Chief Executive of the HKSAR on legal aid policies. It also supervises the provision of legal aid services by the Legal Aid Department without interfering with its day-to-day operation. The council is chaired by a non-official who is not in the legal profession. Its members include lawyers, lay members and the Director of Legal Aid. During the year, it continued to conduct reviews and offer suggestions on various aspects of legal aid services provided by the Legal Aid Department. The council has also formulated its vision, mission and values for the furtherance of legal aid services.
The Official Solicitor
The Director of Legal Aid has been appointed as the Official Solicitor under the Official Solicitor Ordinance since 1 August 1991.
The Official Solicitor's main duties are to act as guardian ad litem or next friend in legal proceedings for persons under disability of age or mental capacity, as representative of deceased persons' estates for the purpose of legal proceedings, as Official Trustee and Judicial Trustee, to act as committee of the estate of mentally incapacitated persons, to represent any party in care or protection proceedings and to act on behalf of persons committed to prison for contempt who is unable or unwilling to apply on his own behalf for release.
The Official Solicitor's case-load for 1999-2000 was 193, an increase of 16 per cent over the previous financial year.
Director of Intellectual Property
The post of Director of Intellectual Property was established in 1990 as a statutory office by the Director of Intellectual Property (Establishment) Ordinance. The Intellectual Property Department operates the Trade Marks, Patents and Designs Registries. The department is also responsible for making recommendations on the policy and legislation related to intellectual property protection, provision of civil intellectual property legal advice to the Government, and promotion of public awareness and respect of intellectual property rights.
Rights of the Individual
The Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong and the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
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