34 The Legal System
and comprises a barrister and a solicitor. During the year, 3 413 applications for criminal legal aid were received and legal aid was granted to 2 235 applicants. Total expenditure on criminal cases was $83.3 million.
The Official Solicitor
The Director of Legal Aid was appointed the Official Solicitor under the Official Solicitor Ordinance which took effect on August 1, 1991.
The Official Solicitor's main duties are to act as guardian ad litem or 'next friend' in legal proceedings for persons under a disability of age or who are mentally incapacitated, as representative of deceased persons' estates for the purpose of legal proceedings, as Official Trustee and Judicial Trustee and to act as committee of the estate of mentally incapacitated persons. The Official Solicitor's caseload for 2008 was 464, an increase of 4 per cent over the previous year.
Director of Intellectual Property
This statutory office was established in 1990 under the Director of Intellectual Property (Establishment) Ordinance. The Intellectual Property Department operates the Trade Marks, Patents, Designs and Copyright Licensing Bodies Registries. It is also responsible for making recommendations on policy and legislation related to intellectual property protection, providing civil intellectual property legal advice to the Government and promoting public awareness of and respect for intellectual property rights.
Rights of the Individual
Legal Protections
Chapter III of the Basic Law prescribes the fundamental rights and freedoms of people in Hong Kong. In particular, Article 39 (which forms part of Chapter III) provides that the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) as applied to Hong Kong shall remain in force.
Additionally, the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance gives domestic effect to the provisions of the ICCPR as applied to Hong Kong.
Protection is also provided in the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance, the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance and the Race Discrimination Ordinance, which are enforced by the Equal Opportunities Commission. The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance administered by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data protects the right to privacy with respect to personal data.
United Nations Human Rights Treaties and Reporting
Fifteen international human rights treaties are applicable to Hong Kong. Seven of these (the ICCPR, the ICESCR, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), the Convention on