法律援助署五十周年紀念特刊 | Legal Aid Department 50th Anniversary Commemorative Publication

署長前言 本署於2000年出版「法義之門」紀念特刊，為部門三十周年誌 慶。本署一直堅守使命，繼往開來，藉着前人奠下的堅實穩固基 礎，不斷拓展及提升法律援助服務，確保所有符合資格接受法律 援助的人，不會因欠缺經濟能力而沒法尋求公義。多年來，法援 署無懼種種改變和挑戰，與社會一同茁壯成長，成績令人振奮。 過去二十年，香港發展一日千里，為緊貼社會步伐，與時並進， 本署除了主動檢視服務範疇及工作流程外，還引進嶄新科技，以 及為工作注入新元素。就整體法律援助服務而言，本署喜見普通 法律援助計劃(普通計劃)及法律援助輔助計劃(輔助計劃)的範圍 擴大至涵蓋更多類別的訴訟。目前，本署每年處理逾15,000宗民 事法援申請，以及超過3,000宗刑事法援申請，當中大部分個案 的性質複雜，而且影響深遠。本署亦不時就評定法援申請人財務 資格的準則，以及申請人的財務資格限額進行檢討。為落實2019 年《施政報告》的措施，經本署提請後，普通計劃及輔助計劃的 財務資格限額已於2020年6月26日起，分別調高至420,400港元及 2,102,000港元。 P.10 Director’s Preview We publicised a commemorative publication “Access to Justice” in 2000 to mark the 30th Anniversary of the Department. Riding on the solid foundation laid by our predecessors, we continue to expand and enhance the legal aid services by upholding our mission that no one who qualifies for legal aid is denied access to justice because of a lack of means. It is heartening to see that the Department has been growing robustly with the community amidst all the changes and challenges. Hong Kong has been developing in a sheer speed in the past 20 years. To be in tune with the pace of the community, apart from initiating reviews on the scope of our service and work process, we also introduce technology and new elements into our work. On the overall provision of legal aid services, we are very pleased to have the scope of the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme (OLAS) and Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme (SLAS) expanded to cover more types of proceedings. Today we handle over 15,000 civil legal aid applications and over 3,000 criminal legal aid applications in a year, most of which are complicated and have far-reaching effect. We also conduct reviews on the criteria for assessing the financial eligibility of legal aid applicants and on the financial eligibility limit (FEL) from time to time. As one of the initiatives in the 2019 Policy Address, we have sought to further increase the FEL. As from 26 June 2020, the FELs of the OLAS and SLAS have increased to HK$420,400 and HK$2,102,000 respectively. We always attach great importance to the provision of quality customer service to the general public. With the benefit of advance technology, we have invested our efforts and resources to improve our service with successful results through innovative ways. In the past two decades, we introduced a number of new services which included the Legal Aid Electronic Services Portal for the public to submit pre-application information online and for legal practitioners to submit legal aid case reports through the system, Means Tests Calculator on our website as a guide for the public to have a preliminary understanding of their financial eligibility for legal aid, Phone Payment Service, Automated Teller Machine and internet banking to afford greater convenience to the public in making payment, QR codes to enable instant and easy access via mobile devices to our leaflets, electronic appointment system for intended legal aid applicants to make appointment to obtain different types of application-related forms and documents through our website. To provide a more comfortable environment for our applicants, we have upgraded our 署長前言 Director’s Preview