Chapter 5
Publicity Programmes
The Department is committed to ensure that no one who qualifies for legal aid is denied access to justice because of lack of means. Every year the Department organizes or participates in various activities to enhance the public's awareness and knowledge of the legal aid services provided by the Department.
Promotional Activities
2012 Law Week
As in the past, the Department sponsored and participated in the organization of the annual territory-wide event Law Week 2012, which was launched by The Law Society of Hong Kong on 27 October 2012. The Opening Ceremony held in Central Plaza was attended by the Honourable Chief Justice Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma; the Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen SC; Legislative Council Member the Honourable Mr Dennis Kwok; the Chairman of Legal Aid Services Council, Dr Eric Li Ka Cheung; the Vice Chairman of Hong Kong Bar Association, Mr Paul Shieh Wing-tai; the President of The Law Society of Hong Kong, Mr Dieter Yih and the Director of Legal Aid, Mr William Chan.
Director of Legal Aid, Mr William Chan (second from right) officiated at the Opening Ceremony of Law Week 2012 together with other distinguished guests
Promotion of Legal Aid Services to external bodies/organizations
In 2012, we met with a number of overseas counterpart organizations to exchange views on issues of common interest in legal aid work and spoke on the latest development of legal aid in Hong Kong.
In January 2012, the Director of Legal Aid, Mr William Chan, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid/Application and Processing, Mr Thomas Kwong and the Deputy Director of Legal Aid/Administration, Ms Alice Chung received the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice in Finland, Ms Tiina Astola and the Consul-General of Finland, Ms Annikki Arponen and exchanged views on legal aid work in Finland and Hong Kong.
In the following month, the Deputy Director of Legal Aid/Application and Processing, Mr Thomas Kwong and the Assistant Director of Legal Aid/Policy and Development, Ms Juliana OY Chan received the visiting Deputy Minister, Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, Dr FrantiĊĦek Korbel introducing the legal aid system in Hong Kong.
In April 2012, the Department received the Immediate Past Chairman of the General Council of the Bar from the UK, Mr Peter Lodder QC.
In addition, the Department also received the following delegations/groups in 2012 and they are:
Please click here for the details and photos of the events http://www.lad.gov.hk/eng/wnew/event.html
Reaching out to the youth
In July 2012, members of the Joint School Mock Trial Club who were students from various local secondary schools visited the Department and were briefed on the daily work of the Crime Section of the Department and courtroom experiences.
In November 2012, with a view to enhance understanding of legal aid work amongst secondary students in particular those of ethnic minorities, the Assistant Director of Legal Aid / Policy and Development, Ms Juliana OY Chan and the Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel/Legal and Management Support, Mrs Christina Hadiwibawa met with some 300 students of the Delia Memorial School (Broadway) and briefed them on legal aid services. English video introducing the Department's services was shown and information pamphlets in ethnic minorities' languages including Hindi, Urdu and Nepali were given to the interested students.
TV documentary on legal aid services
A new TV documentary was produced in 2012 to enhance public awareness of our services including the changes brought about by the improvement measures arising out of the 5-yearly review and the types of cases covered under the expanded scope of OLAS and SLAS. It was shown at the Department's offices during office hours and was also uploaded onto the Department's website. The TV documentary in DVD format was also distributed to public hospitals, public libraries and relevant NGOs for public viewing.
Public Information
LAD News
The Legal Aid Departmental News is published to keep the public informed of the latest developments of services delivered by the Department. It also helps enhance public understanding and awareness of our services.
To address the common misconceptions on the role of the Department and the assigned lawyers in handling of assigned out cases, the main article of the 38th issue of LAD News published in July 2012 explained the different roles and duties of the Department and the assigned lawyers with examples of frequently asked questions to facilitate readers' understanding of the respective role.
New Factsheet on Mediation
To complement the factsheet on mediation for matrimonial cases which was published in 2011, the Department also published a leaflet regarding mediation for non-matrimonial civil cases in 2012 as a means to promote mediation. The factsheet is available in English, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese and are distributed to aided persons together with their legal aid certificates.
How to Apply Legal Aid Leaflets
The Department published a series of leaflets advising the public of the scope of legal aid and the steps involved in making an application. In 2012, the Department has updated and revised the leaflets on " How to Apply Legal Aid in Civil Cases", "How to Apply Legal Aid under the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme" and "How to Apply Legal Aid in Criminal Cases" to reflect the changes brought by the expansion of the scope of the two schemes. In addition, the Department has also updated the "Important Notice for Aided Persons in Criminal Cases".
Booklet on Contribution Towards Costs of Legal Aid Case and DLAs' First Charge
To dispel common but mistaken belief on the Director of Legal Aid's first charge, the Department has updated the booklet on Contribution Towards Costs of Legal Aid Case and DLAs' First Charge. The updated booklet included new examples to explain an aided person's liability for pre-certificate expenses for conducting means or merits test which are not recoverable from the opposite party, expenses for bank search for assessing means and fees for counsel / expert advice obtained by the Department for assessing legal merits of applications etc.
Other publications such as the Financial Information Sheet which contained comprehensive information on financial eligibility, contributions payable by an aided person towards the costs of litigation and the Director's First Charge were also revised to reflect changes implemented in 2012.
A list of publications of the Department is at Appendix 5.
Measures taken by the Department against Improper Touting Activity
To ensure that our aided persons' choice of lawyers are not adversely affected by improper touting activities, a warning poster against touting activity was produced and placed in prominent area of the Department's office premises. Our customers are encouraged to report to our staff in case they are approached by any person claiming to offer assistance in applying for legal aid and ask them to nominate a designated lawyer to handle their cases if aid is granted.
Prospective applicants are also given a personal copy of a newly designed Important Notice informing them that if they need any advice on the choice of lawyer to handle their case, they can approach the legal aid counsel dealing with their applications for advice and discussion.
Website
The Department regularly updates the contents of its website to provide comprehensive and timely information to the public and legal aid practitioners. In 2012, the Department validated the website to the service-wide Government requirement of W3C1 WCAG 2.02 Level AA3 conformance by enhancing the menu bar from image to text which allows the reader to resize by screen reader tools. Additional pointers and hyperlinks have also been included to "Contact Us" facilitating viewers to find the necessary information in the website more easily.
