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

Best of the Best “Hong Kong has one of the best legal aid systems in the world,” Kwong modestly acknowledges. Since its inception, the Department’s objective aims to ensure that those with reasonable grounds for pursuing or defending a legal action in Hong Kong’s courts will not be denied access to justice due to lack of means. “Legal aid here is well resourced and is available to everyone irrespective of residence or nationality,” Kwong elaborates. “In terms of scope, civil legal aid here covers almost all kinds of proceedings in the District Court and higher courts, and extends to a wide range of case types including personal injuries, wages claims, medical negligence, matrimonial, and immigration and public law. In most if not all of the common law jurisdictions, personal injury claims are no longer covered by legal aid.” Today, the Department employs more than 80 lawyers with over 500 staff members to achieve its goal. “We do outsource some 80% of our cases because of the limitation of capacity and where there is conflict of interest,” notes Kwong, adding that around 90% of all criminal trials in the Court of First Instance and the District Court originated from the Department. “The overall success rate for civil legal aid cases remains at a relatively high level of 88% to 91% in the past 5 years.” With such a large percentage of cases handled directly and indirectly by the Department, it is clear that the Department’s efforts closely link with the livelihood of many Hong Kong people. 完善制度 「香港擁有世上其中一個最好的法援制度。」署長謙和地說。 自成立以來，法援署致力確保所有具合理理據在香港法院提 出訴訟或抗辯的人，不會因欠缺經濟能力而沒法尋求公義。 「香港的法律援助服務獲提供充裕資源，而且不論居住地和 國籍，任何人都可申請法律援助。」他續指：「援助範疇 方面，我們的民事法援幾乎涵蓋所有區域法院和高等法院的 訴訟，並延伸至廣泛的案件類別，包括人身傷害、追討欠薪、 醫療疏忽、婚姻訴訟，以及入境事務和公法訴訟。在絕大部 分實施普通法的司法管轄區，法律援助都不再涵蓋人身傷害 索償。」 時至今日，法援署共聘請超過80名律師，以及逾500名員工， 協助實踐部門的目標。「由於部門人手有限，以及個別案件 與部門有利益衝突，我們把約80%的案件交由外委律師 處理。」他亦補充指，原訟法庭及區域法院審理的刑事案件， 約90%屬法援個案。「過去5年，民事法援案件的整體勝訴 率維持在88%至91%的高水平。」由法援署直接或間接處理 的個案比例之多可見，部門的工作與香港的民生息息相關。 P.24 公義根基、精英團隊 An Elite Team for Justice