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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

A review of matters concerning the Judiciary continued during 1975. The Supreme Court Bill 1975, which was published in October, provides for a reconstituted Supreme Court consisting of a High Court of Justice and a permanent Court of Appeal.

The Small Claims Tribunal Bill 1975 established a tribunal with jurisdiction to deal with monetary claims involving amounts not exceeding $3,000. The procedure in the tribunal will be simple and informal, on the lines of that in the Labour Tribunal. Legal representation will not be allowed.

Legal Aid

The fairly comprehensive legal aid schemes that operate in Hong Kong are administered by the Legal Aid Department. Legal aid is available for criminal cases in certain courts and for most kinds of civil cases.

In general, legal aid is granted for criminal cases if an applicant passes the reason- ably generous means test prescribed by the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases Rules, and if the Director of Legal Aid is satisfied that it is in the interests of justice that legal aid should be given. Such cases comprise any criminal trial in the Supreme Court (any trial on indictment by a judge and jury); any criminal case tried in the District Court where the offence charged is punishable by imprisonment for not less than 14 years (this means that aid is available for about 75 per cent of all the criminal cases tried in the District Court); and criminal appeals from magistrates to the Supreme Court, and from the District and Supreme Courts to the Full Court if it appears that there are arguable grounds of appeal.

Legal aid for a civil case is normally granted if an applicant satisfies the Director of Legal Aid that he has reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the proceedings or appeal to which the application for legal aid relates, and if the applicant passes a means test. The upper limits of this are that the applicant should have a monthly disposable income not exceeding $700 and a disposable capital of not more than $4,000. In describing disposable income and disposable capital in relation to legal aid cases, it should be borne in mind that by reason of the Legal Aid (Assessment of Contri- butions) Regulations, people with real incomes far in excess of $700 a month and with real capital of very much more than $4,000 qualify for legal aid—many of them for free legal aid.

The most common civil cases for which legal aid is given are claims for workmen's compensation, damages for personal injuries or death as a result of traffic accidents, bankruptcy proceedings, company winding-up cases, divorce and other matrimonial proceedings.

Legal aid consists of professional legal representation either free of charge to the applicant or on payment to the Legal Aid Department of a relatively small contribu- tion towards legal costs. The representation is by professional lawyers employed the litigation unit of the Legal Aid Department, or by solicitors and barristers in private practice whose legal fees are paid by the department. In the event of a legally aided person losing a civil case, the Legal Aid Department will normally pay not only the costs of the aided person but also the legal costs that the aided person might otherwise have to pay the successful party.