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Rules on briefing out prosecution and legal aid cases
Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau and a reply by the Attorney General, the Hon Jeremy Mathews, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
In reply to a question at the LegCo Sitting on 21 June 1995, the Government revealed that a barrister in private practice who was the husband of the Deputy Director of the Legal Aid Department has been assigned 17 legal aid cases by the Legal Aid Department during the period from 1 January 1994 to 1 May 1995. The fees of 11 of these cases had been settled, which involved a total of over $800,000. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
Reply:
(a)
(b)
Mr President,
whether the Legal Aid Department and the Legal Department have laid down any rules, specifying the conditions under which cases are permitted to be briefed out to relatives of senior staff in the two departments; if so, what these rules are; and
how these two departments ensure that the existing monitoring mechanism is effective to prevent unfairness and favouritism in the briefing out of cases?
All civil servants are subject to rules relating to conflict of interest, which give guidance on how a conflict of interest can be avoided and the appropriate course of action to be taken if such a conflict arises. In the Legal Aid Department and the Legal Department, a circular setting out details of these rules is circulated once every 6 months to remind all staff that they should avoid or declare, as appropriate, any conflict that may arise.
For the Legal Aid Department, all professional officers on first appointment are required to declare the names of any private practitioners on the Legal Aid Panel who have a close personal relationship with them. "Close personal relationship" includes immediate family members.
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