ENG-1990 — Page 67

THE LEGAL SYSTEM

A wide range of civil legal proceedings is available under legal aid, including proceedings in the District Courts, High Court, Court of Appeal and Appeals to the Judicial Com- mittee of the Privy Council in London.

Traffic accident claims, landlord and tenant disputes, claims in respect of industrial accidents and employees' compensation, immigration matters, breach of contract, pro- fessional negligence and every branch of family law are included in the civil aid scheme. Admiralty, bankruptcy and companies winding-up proceedings are also undertaken, the majority of which deal among other things with employees' wages and severance pay. The Legal Aid Department maintains its own litigation units undertaking personal injury litigation, family law and workers' wage claims, together with various sections specialising in enforcement of judgements for damages and legal costs, application for the grant of letters of administration in fatal cases and preparation of itemised bills of costs, all of which provide a support service for those cases assigned to private practitioners and in-house lawyers.

If a person is granted legal aid in a civil case, the Director of Legal Aid will assign the case either to a private solicitor and a barrister, where necessary, or to one of his own professional officers.

An applicant who is refused legal aid may appeal against such refusal to the Registrar of the Supreme Court or in Privy Council cases to a committee of review.

The total estimated expenditure for 1990-91 was $63 million in civil cases. In 1990, 16 631 applications were received and 5 687 granted. A sum of $130 million was recovered for the aided persons. If a legally-aided person in civil litigation is successful and legal costs are recovered in the proceedings, any contribution he may have paid may be refunded to him. In unsuccessful litigation, the liability for costs of a legally-aided person is limited to the amount of contribution, if any, paid by him.

There is a progressive rise in the divorce rate in Hong Kong and an independent counselling agency is provided by the Hong Kong Catholic Marriage Advisory Council whereby applicants for legal aid in matrimonial cases may have counselling with a view to reconciliation or conciliation. This scheme, funded by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, is in operation in the Legal Aid Department's Kowloon Branch Office.

In October 1984, the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme was established. This scheme provides legal assistance to those persons whose financial resources exceed the financial capacity limits which are set under the existing civil aid scheme, but are not sufficient to meet the high costs of conducting litigation on a private basis. It is available for claims in the High Court and for certain claims in the District Court for damages for death and personal injuries.

This supplementary scheme enables an applicant with financial resources exceeding $120,000 per annum but not exceeding $280,000 to apply.

A successful litigant under the supplementary scheme pays back a proportion of the damages he recovers into the scheme's fund to assist litigants in future litigation. The scheme was initially funded with an interest-bearing loan from the Government Lotteries Fund and is administered by the Director of Legal Aid. The percentage deducted from damages ranges from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent depending on the amount recovered and whether the case is settled prior to the trial of the action.

The total estimated expenditure in 1990-91 was $2 million. During 1990, 128 applica- tions were received of which 81 were granted.