ENG-1982 — Page 349

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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

Legal aid is provided either free or on payment of a contribution depending on the disposable income and capital. If an aided person is successful in his civil litigation and legal aid costs are recovered in the proceedings, then any contribution he may have paid will be refunded. If an aided person loses his case, he is only liable to pay the amount of contribution, if any.

To qualify for legal aid in civil cases, an applicant must satisfy the Director of Legal Aid that he has a reasonable chance of succeeding in his case and that he is financially eligible. Legal aid is available for most types of civil proceedings in the District Courts, High Court and the Court of Appeal. Recent legal enactment has enabled the scope of civil proceedings to be extended to include certain tenancy matters in the Lands Tribunal and appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. At the end of the year there were two such appeals being handled by the department in London. Traffic accident claims, claims in respect of industrial accidents and employees' compensation, tenancy matters and every branch of family law ranging from divorce, separation, maintenance and custody to ward- ship are included in the civil legal aid scheme. Admiralty, bankruptcy and companies' winding-up proceedings are also covered and the majority of these cases are of considerable importance since they deal mostly with employees' wages and severance pay.

An estimated $33 million was obtained through legal aid in the 1982-3 financial year for aided persons in civil cases.

In the event that an applicant is refused legal aid, he is entitled to appeal against such refusal to the Registrar of the Supreme Court or, where the application relates to appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, to a Special Tribunal. The decision of the Registrar and that of the Special Tribunal is final.

Legal aid is available for criminal proceedings in the District Courts, the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong and, by recent legal enactment, for the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The majority of accused persons in the courts are legally aided. For a criminal trial legal aid is invariably given - subject to the means test - because of the severity of the charges coupled with the possible gravity of sentences. Legal aid can also be given to conduct pleas in mitigation of sentence. For appeals against conviction for murder, irrespective of whether there are grounds for appeal, legal aid is mandatory. For all other criminal appeals, including appeals from the decision of magistrates, legal aid will be given subject to the means test if the Director of Legal Aid is satisfied that there are arguable grounds of appeal. A person who is refused legal aid may nevertheless be granted legal aid by a trial judge, or by the Court of Appeal, or in relation to appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council by the Special Tribunal provided he comes within the means test limits.

The Legal Aid Department has a very close relationship with the Law Society and the Bar Association of Hong Kong and if a person is granted legal aid, the Director of Legal Aid will either assign the matter to a private solicitor or a barrister where necessary or to one of his own professional officers. The department has its headquarters in Central District, with a busy branch office in Mong Kok, Kowloon. The mobile unit, established in 1980, continues to visit the New Territories regularly and provides on the spot information about legal aid to the residents. In January 1967, the department comprised one professional officer and five junior staff. Today, owing to the continuing expansion in jurisdiction and departmental operation, the establishment consists of 317 persons of whom 45 are professional lawyers.

The total estimated expenditure for the financial year 1982-3 is $11.6 million for civil cases and $17.5 million for criminal cases.