ENG-2002 — Page 59

THE LEGAL SYSTEM

The Legal Profession

The HKSAR has more than 5 200 practising solicitors and 640 local law firms, plus some 37 foreign law firms, 750 registered foreign lawyers and seven registered associations between foreign law firms and local law firms in Hong Kong.

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

There are over 390 notaries public, who are members of the Hong Kong Society of Notaries, providing notarial service to different sectors of the community. Legislation on notaries public has been updated with a view to enhancing the notarial system.

Hong Kong has more than 790 practising barristers, whose governing body is the Hong Kong Bar Association. The Code of Conduct for the Bar of the HKSAR governs their conduct and etiquette.

The Judiciary

A key element in the 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 Court of Final Appeal is the highest appellate court in the HKSAR. The court is headed by the Chief Justice. There are three permanent judges and a panel of 12 non-permanent Hong Kong judges and eight non-permanent judges from other common law jurisdictions. In hearing and determining appeals, the court may, as required, invite a non-permanent Hong Kong judge or a non-permanent judge from other common law jurisdictions to sit on the court. The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary. He is assisted in the overall administration by the Judiciary Administrator.

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 are nine Justices of Appeal and 25 Judges of the Court of First Instance. The court's Registrar, Senior Deputy Registrars 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 provision for jury trials in certain cases, including defamation. For criminal trials, they sit with a jury of seven, or sometimes nine on special direction of the judge.

The District Court is one level below the Court of First Instance. It has a Chief District Judge and 33 Judges, who sit without a jury in both criminal and civil cases. The Court's Registrar and Deputy Registrars serve as Masters of the District Court to deal with interlocutory and taxation matters. The District Court tries the more serious criminal cases except murder, manslaughter and rape. The maximum term of imprisonment is seven years. The District Court's civil jurisdiction is limited to disputes with a monetary value of up to $600,000, or recovery of possession of land of rateable value up to $240,000. It has jurisdiction over employees' compensation

31