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THE LEGAL SYSTEM

Director of Intellectual Property

The post of Director of Intellectual Property was established in 1990 as a statutory office by the Director of Intellectual Property (Establishment) Ordinance. The Intellectual Property Department operates the Trade Marks, Patents and Designs Registries. The department is also responsible for the policy and legislation for other forms of intellectual property protection such as copyright and layout-design (topography) of integrated circuits, and for further developments of Hong Kong's intellectual property regime and promotion of public awareness and respect of intellectual property rights.

The Legal Profession

The HKSAR has 4 114 solicitors and 556 local law firms, plus 53 registered foreign law firms, 397 registered foreign lawyers and eight registered associations between foreign law firms and local law firms in the HKSAR which advise on foreign law.

The Law Society is the governing body for solicitors and foreign lawyers and foreign law firms in the HKSAR. It has wide responsibilities for maintaining professional and ethical standards and for considering complaints against these legal professionals.

Hong Kong has 660 practising barristers, whose governing body is the Bar Association. Their conduct and etiquette are governed by the Code of Conduct for the Bar of the HKSAR.

The Judiciary

A key element in the past success and continuing attraction of the HKSAR is that its judicial system operates on the principle, fundamental to the common law system, of the independence of the judiciary from the executive and legislative branches of government. The courts make their own judgments, whether disputes before them involve private citizens, corporate bodies or the government itself. The independence of the Judiciary is provided for by the Sino-British Joint Declaration on the Question of Hong Kong and the Basic Law.

The Court of Final Appeal is the highest appellate court in the HKSAR. It replaces the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London upon the change of sovereignty. It is constituted by the Chief Justice, three permanent judges and one non-permanent Hong Kong Judge or

Judge or one judge from another common law jurisdiction. The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary. He is assisted in the overall administration by the Judiciary Administrator and her supporting team.

The High Court, comprising the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance, is headed by the Chief Judge of the High Court. Sitting in the High Court, in addition to the Chief Judge himself are nine Justices of Appeal and 25 Judges of the Court of First Instance. The court's Registrar and Deputy Registrars serve as Masters of the High Court in civil trials in the Court of First Instance.

The Court of Appeal hears civil and criminal appeals from the Court of First Instance and the District Court. The Court of First Instance's jurisdiction is unlimited in both civil and criminal matters. Civil matters are usually tried by Court of First Instance Judges sitting without juries, although there is a rarely used

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