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He noted that there were many aspects of professional practice that were obsolete or obsolescent and had been abandoned in common law jurisdictions elsewhere; many restrictions on the ways in which legal services might be offered; and many practices that were non-competitive or conflict with the public interest.
Mr Fung said as Hong Kong prepared to enter the twenty-first century, steps must be taken to ensure that the legal services available were the best that could be provided in this dynamic, international city.
He also said the preservation of the rule of law was essential to Hong Kong's way of life.
"This will be made easier if those who are served and protected by the legal system have faith and confidence in it. A system that is remote, inaccessible and overly expensive will only promote suspicion and may not endure.
"Questions of accessibility, cost-effectiveness and efficiency therefore need to be considered alongside questions of quality, independence and the attainment of justice. Only in this way we can seek to develop legal services that are truly responsive to the needs of the community," Mr Fung said.
End/Friday, June 23, 1995
Employment and vacancies survey
The Census and Statistics Department has just started the Quarterly Survey of Employment and Vacancies to collect data on employment and vacancies in major sectors of the economy in respect of June this year. This survey is conducted quarterly and the survey results are useful in serving as short-term economic indicators and providing information on the latest changes in the labour market.
This round of the survey covers about 68,000 establishments which are drawn from various sectors including the industrial sector (mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity and gas), the distributive trades sector (wholesale, retail and import/export trades, restaurants and hotels) and the services sector (transport, storage and communication; financing, insurance, real estate and business services; community, social and personal services). Information on number of persons engaged and vacancies as at June 30 will be sought from each sampled establishment.