TNAG-1589-FCO40-21741-Future-of-the-judiciary-in-Hong-Kong.-Part-1-of-2-1987 — Page 156

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3.

The proper aim of the listing system is to get as near to a full day as can be achieved without significant risk of cases not being

started on the appointed day. The general experience is that the risks

of overbooking are far greater in small court complexes than in large

ones. As the number of courts increases the risk diminishes until it

is virtually non-existent as long as each judge sees the work in the

building as his work.

4.

The possible causes of listing failure, that is to say of the

occasions when courts are left empty, were set out in my Discussion

Papers as follows :-

"(a) indecisiveness, delay or vacillation on the

part of the litigant;

(b)

unavoidable accident, e.g. sudden illness of a witness;

(c) incomplete preparation by lawyers (barristers

and solicitors);

(a)

late preparation by lawyers;

(e)

late preparation by the court;

(f)

inaccurate time estimates by lawyers;

(g) inaccurate time estimates by judges;

(h)

inaccurate time estimates by listing officers;

(i) unwillingness to return briefs;

(j) late briefing of counsel;

(k) too many courts; (1)

failure of communication."

Not all these things occur in every court but across the Judiciary as a whole each one might come into play somewhere. The purpose of that analysis was to try and get the point home that everyone working in the system should look to himself or herself, as well as to others, and

think what contribution he or she can make to improve the use of resources and provide a proper service to litigants and the general

public.

5.

I quote further as follows

Dealing with factors (a) and (b) first, whilst no one can be blamed for their immediate consequences, the resource allocation system should recognise that it must take some account of their incidence which is fairly high. I am not at any rate at this stage proposing an analysis

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