ENG-1983 — Page 349

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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

department. Cases such as admiralty, bankruptcy and companies' winding-up proceedings are also undertaken; the majority of these cases being of considerable social importance since they deal in the main with employees' wages and severance pay.

In the 1983-4 financial year, an estimated $47.1 million was obtained through legal aid 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 or the Special Tribunal is final.

Legal aid is available for criminal proceedings in the District Courts, High Court, Court of Appeal and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London. The majority of accused persons in the courts are legally aided. For High Court criminal trials legal aid is invariably given - subject to the means test because of the severity of the charges coupled with the possible gravity of sentence. 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 decisions 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. Recent introduction of the Criminal Procedure (Preliminary Proceedings in an Indictable Offence) Ordinance 1983, and amendments to related legislation, have enabled the scope of criminal proceedings to be extended further to include not only the advising of financially eligible defendants prior to committal proceedings but also, where necessary, to provide them with legal representation in the Magistrates' Courts for such proceedings. A person who is refused legal aid on a criminal matter may nevertheless be granted such aid - subject to the means test - 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.

A very close relationship exists between the Legal Aid Department, the Law Society and the Bar Association of Hong Kong. If a person is granted legal aid, the Director of Legal Aid will assign the matter either 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. In 1967, the department comprised one professional officer assisted by five junior staff members. Today, owing to the continuing expansion in jurisdiction and departmental operations, the establishment numbers 316, of whom 45 are professional lawyers.

The total estimated expenditure for the financial year 1983-4 is $14 million for civil cases and $21 million for criminal cases.

Law Society Legal Advice and Duty Lawyer Schemes

The Law Society, through an executive committee including Bar Association nominees, administers the Free Legal Advice Scheme and the Duty Lawyer Scheme which provide free legal advice in civil law matters and free legal representation to defendants for certain criminal cases in the Magistrates' Courts and for serious offences in the Juvenile Courts. The schemes are funded by government subvention which in 1983 totalled $16.5 million. The continuing development of both schemes illustrates the willing partnership between the legal profession and the government to provide, independently, free legal services to those in most immediate need.