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"Recommendations made by the working group, including changes to the procedure in respect of uncontested divorce cases, will soon be implemented. Such changes should increase the efficiency of the Family Court and benefit court users," he said.
Furthermore, a review on the operations of the Labour Tribunal was completed in early 1995. "Various measures, including the setting up of an additional court last September, have been introduced since to streamline the tribunal's procedure and improve its efficiency," the Chief Justice said.
On the Small Claims Tribunal, Sir Ti Liang said, "We now propose to raise its jurisdiction from the present level of $15,000 set in 1988 to $30,000. To overcome the accommodation problem and better utilise the court, we have introduced a 'staggered hour system'. As a result, productivity in terms of the number of cases processed has increased by one-third and waiting time has shortened from 60 days to about 35 days."
Legislative amendments to the District Court Ordinance, the Labour Tribunal Ordinance, the Small Claims Tribunal Ordinance and the Coroners Ordinance will be introduced into the Legislative Council this year.
On human rights protection, Sir Ti Liang said special listing arrangements would be made later this year at the High Court, the District Court and the Labour Tribunal so that these cases could be expeditiously and efficiently dealt with.
"Similar arrangements will be made in respect of sex and disability discrimination cases," he said. "To ensure that there is an efficient and accessible avenue for those who feel aggrieved, there will be special listing arrangements made at the District Court and the High Court this year to deal with the listing of sex and disability discrimination cases."
On the Court of Final Appeal (CFA), rules and the operational framework of the CFA are being drawn up. "We shall shortly be seeking the profession's views on the draft rules and hope to finalise the rules later this year," said Sir Ti Liang.
On court waiting time, the Chief Justice was pleased to announce that the Judiciary had succeeded in tackling the problem mainly through more flexible listing and tighter case management and the overall situation had improved considerably last year.