Chapter 2
Legal Aid Services
Legal aid business is conducted in the following service areas:- Receiving and processing of legal aid applications;
- Assignments and monitoring of legal aid cases;
- Litigation services; and
- Related supporting legal services.
Application and Processing Services
A total of 20 031 applications for legal aid were received and 11 003 legal aid certificates were issued in 2010:
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Mr Thomas Edward Kwong Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Application and Processing) |
Legal Aid in Civil Cases
Civil legal aid applications, apart from applications relating to wages claims which are processed by the Insolvency Unit of the Litigation Division, are dealt with by the Application and Processing Division.Distribution of Applications Received for Civil Legal Aid in 2009-2010
| 民事法律援助申請數目 No. of Applications for Civil Legal Aid |
|||
| 二ＯＯ九年 2009 |
二Ｏ一Ｏ年 2010 |
增減的百分比 % Change |
|
| 人身傷害申索 Personal Injuries Claims |
5,040 | 5,098 | 1% |
| 婚姻訴訟個案 Matrimonial Cases |
9,171 | 8,366 | -9% |
| 土地及租務糾紛 Land and Tenancy Disputes |
334 | 354 | 6% |
| 勞資糾紛 Employment Disputes |
76 | 89 | 17% |
| 入境事務 Immigration Matters |
135 | 118 | -13% |
| 追討工資 Wages Claims |
358 | 171 | -52% |
| 其他 Others |
2,243 | 1,928 | -14% |
| 總數 Total |
17,357 | 16,124 | -7% |
Distribution of Certificates Issued for Civil Legal Aid in 2009-2010
| 批出的民事法律援助證書數目 No. of Certificates for Civil Legal Aid |
|||
| 二ＯＯ九年 2009 |
二Ｏ一Ｏ年 2010 |
增減的百分比 % Change |
|
| 人身傷害申索 Personal Injuries Claims |
2,856 | 2,905 | 2% |
| 婚姻訴訟個案 Matrimonial Cases |
5,213 | 4,580 | -12% |
| 土地及租務糾紛 Land and Tenancy Disputes |
41 | 83 | 102% |
| 勞資糾紛 Employment Disputes |
8 | 39 | 388% |
| 入境事務 Immigration Matters |
17 | 34 | 100% |
| 追討工資 Wages Claims |
279 | 159 | -43% |
| 其他 Others |
617 | 463 | -25% |
| 總數 Total |
9,031 | 8,263 | -9% |
Take-up Rate for Civil Legal Aid in 2009-2010
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Mrs Annie Williams Ka-ding Assistant Director of Legal Aid (Application and Processing) |
The Application and Processing Division also provides an information and enquiry service through the Information and Application Service Unit. The Unit provides information and deals with enquiries from the public on matters such as the scope of legal aid, financial eligibility limits and application procedures. In 2010, the Unit received a total of 41 009 enquiries.
Upon acceptance of an offer for legal aid, successful applicants are given the services of a solicitor and, if necessary, counsel to represent them in legal proceedings in the Coroner's Court, the Mental Health Review Tribunal, the District Court, the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal or the Court of Final Appeal.
 |
Ms Sherman Cheung Suk-ying Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel/ Application and Processing (1) |
Outcome of Cases Closed in 2010
| 案件類別 Case Type |
取得濟助 Relief Obtained |
未能取得濟助 Relief Not Obtained |
撤回訴訟 Withdrawn |
總數 Total |
| 婚姻訴訟 Matrimonial |
88%(87%) | 5%(6%) | 7%(7%) | 100% |
| 案件類別 Case Type |
勝訴 In Favour |
敗訴 Not In Favour |
在訴訟前取消/撤回證書 Discharged / Revoked prior to Proceedings |
在訴訟進行期間應受助人的要求取消證書 Discharged at AP's Request during Proceedings |
在訴訟進行期間取消/撤回證書 Discharged / Revoked during Proceedings |
總數 Total |
| 人身傷害申索 Personal Injuries Claims |
91% (91%) |
2% (2%) |
1% (1%) |
2% (2%) |
4% (4%) |
100% |
| - 僱員補償申索 Employees' Compensation Claims |
92% (92%) |
1% (2%) |
2% (1%) |
2% (2%) |
3% (3%) |
100% |
| - 人身傷害 Personal Injuries |
89% (89%) |
2% (3%) |
2% (2%) |
2% (2%) |
5% (4%) |
100% |
| - 交通意外 Running Down |
90% (91%) |
2% (3%) |
2% (1%) |
2% (1%) |
4% (4%) |
100% |
| 醫療/牙科/專業疏忽 Medical/Dental/ Professional Negligence |
82%(74%) | 1%(5%) | 1%(2%) | 7%(4%) | 9%(15%) | 100% |
| 雜類 Miscellaneous |
60%(52%) | 17%(24%) | 6%(5%) | 6%(3%) | 11%(16%) | 100% |
| 總數Overall | 86%(86%) | 4%(5%) | 2%(2%) | 3%(2%) | 5%(5%) | 100% |
| 案
件類別 Case Type |
發出呈請前已和解 Settlement before Issuing Petition |
發出清盤令/破產令 Order for Winding-up/ Bankruptcy |
呈請遭駁回(和解) Petition Dismissed (Settled) |
擱置呈請 Petition Stayed |
呈請遭駁回 Petition Dismissed |
轉介薪酬保障組處理 Referral to Wage Security Division |
其他 Others |
總數 Total |
| 追討工資 (清盤/破產) Wages Claims (Winding-up / Bankruptcy) |
1% (1%) |
90% (88%) |
1% (3%) |
3% (3%) |
0% (1%) |
1% (2%) |
4% (2%) |
100% |
Refusal of Legal Aid
An applicant who is refused legal aid in civil matters either on means or on merits may appeal to the Registrar of the High Court. In respect of the Court of Final Appeal cases, the applicants may appeal to a Review Committee comprising the Registrar of the High Court, a barrister and a solicitor appointed respectively by the Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association and the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong. The decision of the Registrar or the Review Committee is final. |
Miss Linda Ng Wing-ping Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel/ Application and Processing (2) |
Refusal Rate of Civil Legal Aid Applications in 2009-2010
Success Rate of Legal Aid Appeals in 2009-2010
*Note : The figures do not include appeals withdrawn.
Legal Aid in Criminal Cases
Criminal legal aid applications are processed by the Crime Section.Distribution of Applications Received for Criminal Legal Aid in 2009-2010
| 刑事法律援助申請數目 No. of Applications for Civil Legal Aid |
|||
| 二ＯＯ九年 2009 |
二Ｏ一Ｏ年 2010 |
增減的百分比 % Change |
|
| 裁判法院審理的交付審判程序 Committal Proceedings at Magistrates' Court |
426 | 477 | 12% |
| 區域法院審訊 District Court Trials |
1,622 | 1,602 | -1% |
| 原訟法庭審訊 Court of First Instance Trials |
465 | 484 | 4% |
| 由原訟法庭審理的裁判法院上訴 Magistrate's Court Appeals to the Court of First Instance |
568 | 577 | 2% |
| 由上訴法庭審理的區域法院上訴 District Court Appeals to the Court of Appeal |
408 | 441 | 8% |
| 由上訴法庭審理的原訟法庭上訴 Court of First Instance Appeals to the Court of Appeal |
178 | 159 | -11% |
| 終審法院上訴 Appeals in Court of Final Appeal |
123 | 108 | -12% |
| 其他 Others |
26 | 59 | 127% |
| 總數 Total |
3,816 | 3,907 | 2% |
Distribution of Certificates Issued for Criminal Legal Aid in 2009-2010
| 批出的刑事法律援助證書數目 No. of Certificates for Criminal Legal Aid |
|||
| 二ＯＯ九年 2009 |
二Ｏ一Ｏ年 2010 |
增減的百分比 % Change |
|
| 裁判法院審理的交付審判程序 Committal Proceedings at Magistrates' Court |
426 | 474 | 11% |
| 區域法院審訊 District Court Trials |
1,602 | 1,534 | -4% |
| 原訟法庭審訊 Court of First Instance Trials |
453 | 481 | 6% |
| 由原訟法庭審理的裁判法院上訴 Magistrate's Court Appeals to the Court of First Instance |
122 | 96 | -21% |
| 由上訴法庭審理的區域法院上訴 District Court Appeals to the Court of Appeal |
110 | 70 | -36% |
| 由上訴法庭審理的原訟法庭上訴 Court of First Instance Appeals to the Court of Appeal |
59 | 58 | -2% |
| 終審法院上訴 Appeals in Court of Final Appeal |
21 | 16 | -24% |
| 其他 Others |
7 | 11 | 57% |
| 總數 Total |
2,800 | 2,740 | -2% |
Take-up Rate for Criminal Legal Aid in 2009-2010
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Ms Jennie Hui Lai-yung Deputy Director of Legal Aid (Litigation) |
Refusal of Legal Aid
An applicant whose financial resources exceed the statutory limit may still receive assistance if the Director of Legal Aid is satisfied that it is desirable in the interests of justice to grant legal aid.If an applicant is refused legal aid because his case lacks merits, he can apply to the judge who may grant legal aid on his own initiative provided the applicant is eligible on means. Applicants in cases involving a charge of murder, treason or piracy with violence may apply to a judge for the grant of legal aid, and for exemption of the means test and payment of contribution.
In 2010, there were 18 refusals on means of which 16 were also refused on merits. The Director exercised discretion and granted legal aid in 42 other cases even though the means of the applicants exceeded the limit. 13 applications were refused because the applicants concerned failed to supply the Director with the necessary information to conduct a means test. There were 957 refusals because the applications lacked merits (914 for appeal cases and 43 for other cases). Legal aid was granted in five appeal cases by judges notwithstanding the Director of Legal Aid's refusal.
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Mr Allan Chan Wing-cho Assistant Director of Legal Aid (Litigation) |
For refusal in respect of an appeal to the Court of Final Appeal, the appellant may appeal to a Review Committee chaired by the Registrar of the High Court and comprising a barrister and a solicitor appointed by the Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association and by the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong respectively. In 2010, no appeal was made to the Review Committee.
Refusal Rate of Criminal Legal Aid Applications in 2009-2010
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Ms Mo Yuk-wah Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel (Crime) |
Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme
An applicant with financial resources exceeding $175,800 but below $488,400 may apply to pursue a claim involving personal injuries or death, medical, dental or legal professional negligence under the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme where the amount of the claim is likely to exceed $60,000. Under this Scheme, legal aid is also available for Employees' Compensation claims irrespective of the amount of the claim.This Scheme is self-financing and is funded by contributions paid by the applicants upon acceptance of legal aid and from percentage contributions payable by aided persons out of monies recovered in the aided proceedings. The rate of percentage contribution is 10% of the monies recovered, 6% if the case is settled before counsel is briefed to attend trial.
The Scheme received 143 applications in 2010 and 106 legal aid certificates were issued. An operational deficit of $0.7 million was recorded as compared with an operational surplus of $0.2 million in 2009. As at 30 September 2010, the Supplementary Legal Aid Fund had a balance of $87.1 million. For details, please refer to Appendix 1.
Legal Aid Electronic Services Portal
Person over the age of 18 can submit pre-application information online for non-urgent civil and criminal cases as a first step towards making an application for legal aid. To make use of this online submission procedure and to ensure confidentiality of information transmitted online, applicants must be holders of a digital certificate issued by the Hong Kong Post or Digi-Sign.The Legal Aid Electronic Services Portal (LAESP) also has a means test calculator which members of the public can use to give them an idea whether they are eligible for legal aid on means if they apply for legal aid. Members of the public can access the means test calculator in the Department's website at www.lad.gov.hk. In 2010, the means test calculator received 2 754 hits.
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| E-portal webpage of Legal Aid Department |
Legal Aid Assignments and Monitoring
Assignments
Legal aid work is not distributed to counsel or solicitors on the Legal Aid Panel equally regardless of merit, the legally aided persons' interests being the paramount consideration. Counsel or solicitors are selected having regard to their level of experience and expertise, the type and complexity of the particular case, with reference to established guidelines and criteria, which include, amongst others, minimum experience requirements, past performance records and the limit on assignments of legal aid work.Distribution of Civil and Criminal Assignments to Solicitors / Counsel in 2010
| 大律師數目 No. of Counsel |
||||
| 宗數 No of Assignments |
*3年以下 *Below 3 Years |
*3-5年 *3-5 Years |
*6-10年 *6-10 Years |
*10年以上 *Over 10 Years |
| 1-4 | 7 | 22 | 55 | 126 |
| 5-15 | 1 | 11 | 14 | 169 |
| 16-30 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 30 |
| 31-50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 50宗以上 Over 50 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 總數 Total |
8 | 34 | 73 | 329 |
| 律師數目 No. of Solicitors |
||||
| 宗數 No of Assignments |
*3年以下 *Below 3 Years |
*3-5年 *3-5 Years |
*6-10年 *6-10 Years |
*10年以上 *Over 10 Years |
| 1-4 | 2 | 42 | 133 | 539 |
| 5-15 | 1 | 8 | 88 | 340 |
| 16-30 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 74 |
| 31-50 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| 50宗以上 Over 50 |
0 | 0 | 2 | 16 |
| 總數 Total |
3 | 51 | 232 | 986 |
The Departmental Committee on Monitoring Assignments to Counsel and Solicitors comprising of directorate officers and a representative from the Independent Commission Against Corruption and chaired by the Director of Legal Aid, ensures that cases are assigned in accordance with the established assignment criteria and guidelines. It also considers reports on the unsatisfactory performance/conduct of assigned lawyers. In 2010, on the advice of the Committee, the names of three solicitors were removed from the Legal Aid Panel and eight solicitors/counsel were put on the Record of Unsatisfactory Performance/Conduct.
The LAESP serves to provide a useful platform for conducting legal aid business in the areas of assignment and monitoring. Practitioners can submit legal aid panel entry forms to the Department online. Panel lawyers can also download data update form to update their particulars. To facilitate the reporting of progress of cases, assigned solicitors/counsel can also submit their case reports through LAESP to the Department.
Mediation in legal aid cases
Following the implementation of the Civil Justice Reform (CJR) in April 2009, legal aid now covers expenses incurred by aided persons when undergoing mediation in the course of the aided proceedings. The number of aided persons opting for mediation had been on the increase.In 2010, funding for mediation was approved in 555 assigned out cases, out of which 84 were matrimonial cases as opposed to 12 in 2009.
Litigation Services
In-house Civil Litigation
The Civil Litigation Section (CLS) of the Litigation Division undertakes civil litigation for aided persons whose cases have been assigned in-house.Personal Injury Litigation
In 2010, CLS took up 200 personal injury cases. The total amount of damages recovered by the Section for aided persons was about $ 62 million, while profit costs recovered were about $ 8.7 million. In 6 cases, damages in excess of $1 million were recovered on behalf of aided persons and in 2 cases, the damages exceeded $11 million.
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Mr Chris Chong Yan-tung Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel (Civil Litigation 1) |
Family Litigation
The Family Unit of CLS took up a total of 1 131 family cases during the year. It also handled enforcement proceedings for the recovery of maintenance and costs in family cases litigated in-house.
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Mrs
Christina Hadiwibawa Cheung Ying-man Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel (Civil Litigation 2) |
Wages Claims
The Insolvency Unit of CLS assists employees referred by the Labour Relations Office of the Labour Department to recover arrears of wages and other employment-related benefits.
The Unit processes applications for legal aid from employees and handles the ensuing winding up or bankruptcy proceedings.
Where there is sufficient evidence to support the presentation of a petition for winding-up or bankruptcy but it is uneconomical or unreasonable in the particular circumstances to institute court proceedings, the Unit will refer the case to the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board for consideration of ex-gratia payments to the employees.
In 2010, 123 winding-up and 39 bankruptcy petitions were presented and 472 cases were referred to the Protection of Wages on Insolvency Fund Board.
In-house Criminal Litigation
Apart from processing legal aid applications for criminal cases including appeals, the Crime Section of the Litigation Division represents legally aided persons at committal proceedings in the Magistrate's Court, plea day hearing in the District Court, listing hearings in the Court of First Instance as well as bail applications at all levels of court. It also acts as instructing solicitors in cases in the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal.In 2010, some 83% of all criminal cases in the District Court in Hong Kong were legally aided, as were some 92% of criminal cases in the Court of First Instance.
In 2010, the Section handled 2 091 cases in-house:
Related Legal Support Services
Costing
The Department's Costing Unit assesses all bills of costs submitted by assigned solicitors and attends taxation hearings. The Civil Justice Reform implemented in April 2009 encourages parties to reach early out-of-court settlements and replaces most of the oral taxation hearings by paper taxations. The number of assessments conducted by Costing Unit had increased substantially as a result.Cases handled by the Costing Unit in 2009-2010
Enforcement
The Department's Enforcement Unit (EU) handles enforcement proceedings for the recovery of judgment debts and costs in legally aided cases. In 2010, the EU was assigned 553 cases. Enforcement actions were avoided in some cases when the judgment debtors undertook, through negotiation, to pay the outstanding amount by instalments. Enforcement proceedings, nevertheless, had to be instituted in 433 cases.Of the cases where enforcement proceedings were taken by the EU, about 66.3% of them were instituted within one month from the date the cases were assigned to the professional officers for handling. The table below shows the length of time taken for enforcement proceedings to be commenced from the date of assignment:
In 2010:
| 1個月內 Within 1 month |
2個月內 Within 2 months |
3個月內 Within 3 months |
超過3個月 More than 3 months |
總數 Total cases |
| 287(309) | 114(124) | 25(28) | 7(11) | 433(472) |
| 66.3(65.5%) | 26.3(26.3%) | 5.8(5.9%) | 1.6(2.3%) | 100%(100%) |
The costs and damages recovery ratio for cases with enforcement action handled by the Department and finalised in 2010 is as shown in the chart below:
