ENG-1991 — Page 62

THE LEGAL SYSTEM

after allowances, including rent, have been deducted from actual earnings and assets. In addition to financial eligibility, the applicant must satisfy the Director of Legal Aid in civil cases that he has a reasonable chance of succeeding in the litigation for which he seeks legal representation and in recovering the judgement debt thereafter. Legal aid is available for a wide range of civil proceedings in the District Court, High Court, Court of Appeal and appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Traffic and industrial accident claims, employees' compensation, landlord and tenant disputes, immigration matters, breach of contract, professional negligence and every branch of family law are covered under the civil legal aid scheme. Other cases such as Admiralty proceedings for seamen's wages, bankruptcy and companies winding-up litigation for employees' wages and severance pay are also undertaken. 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 1991-2 was $63 million in civil cases. In 1991, 18 029 applications were received and 5 429 applications granted legal aid. A sum of $176 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, the Hong Kong Catholic Marriage Advisory Council provides counselling service to legal aid applicants in matrimonial cases with a view to conciliation or reconciliation. This scheme, funded by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, is in operation in the Legal Aid Department's Kowloon Branch Office.

A Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, established since October 1984, provides legal assistance to those persons whose resources exceed the financial limits under the ordinary legal aid scheme but are not sufficient to meet the high costs of conducting litigation on a private basis. This scheme was initially funded with an interest-bearing loan from the Government Lotteries Fund and is administered by the Director of Legal Aid. It is available for claims in the High Court and certain claims in the District Court for damages for death and personal injuries. The supplementary scheme enables an applicant with a gross monthly income not exceeding $15,000 and disposable capital not exceeding $100,000 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 other litigants in future litigation. The percentage deducted from damages ranges from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent depending on the amount recovered and the stage at which the litigation is concluded. The total estimated expenditure of the scheme in 1991-2 was $7 million. During the year, 177 applications were received of which 139 applications were granted legal aid.

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 full-time lawyers. The department maintains its own civil litigation division undertaking personal injuries, family law and workers' and seamen's wage claims. The department also has various sections specialising in enforcement of judgements for damages and legal costs, application for the grant of Letters of Administration in fatal cases and assessment and preparation of itemised bills of costs, all of which provide a legal support service for cases assigned to private practitioners and in-house lawyers.

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