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The Legal System
Lawyers practising within one branch of the profession are not, at the same time, allowed to practise within the other. Hong Kong has 7,864 practising solicitors and 818 local law firms, plus 72 foreign law firms and 1,401 registered foreign lawyers. Around 375 solicitors are also notaries public. The Law Society is responsible for maintaining professional and ethical standards of solicitors, foreign lawyers and foreign law firms and for handling complaints against these legal professionals.
The barristers' professional body is the Bar Association. The professional conduct of Hong Kong's 1,238 barristers is regulated by the Bar Code.
Legal Aid
Publicly funded legal aid services are provided through the Legal Aid Department and the Duty Lawyer Service. Legal aid ensures that a person who has reasonable grounds for taking or defending a legal action in the Hong Kong courts is not prevented from doing so because of a lack of means. Eligible applicants receive legal aid through the provision of the services of a solicitor and, if necessary, of a barrister.
Legal Aid Department
The Legal Aid Department provides legal aid services to any person, irrespective of his residence or nationality, who satisfies the means and merits tests. It has about 540 staff, including 74 lawyers.
Legal Aid in Civil Cases
Legal aid under the Ordinary Scheme is available for civil proceedings in the District Court, Court of First Instance, Court of Appeal, Court of Final Appeal, applications to the Mental Health Review Tribunal and death inquests if the interests of public justice so require. Major types of cases covered include family disputes, personal injury claims, employment disputes, disputes related to landed properties, contractual disputes, immigration matters and professional negligence claims.
An applicant must pass the means and merits tests to qualify for legal aid. For the means test, the applicant must show that his financial resources (the aggregate of his annual disposable income and total disposable capital after deduction of a statutory allowance and certain deductible items) do not exceed $269,620. For applicants aged 60 or above, the first $269,620 will be disregarded when calculating the amount of disposable capital.
The Director of Legal Aid may waive the upper financial eligibility limit in meritorious cases where a breach of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance or an inconsistency with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as applied to Hong Kong is an issue.
For the merits test, the applicant must satisfy the Director of Legal Aid that he has reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the civil proceedings.
An aided person may be required to pay a contribution depending on his financial resources and is required to pay back all the expenses incurred in the proceedings that are not recovered
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