The documentary“Legal Aid - a Gateway to Justice”is a co-production of Radio Television Hong Kong and the Legal Aid Department. It is a television series of six half hour episodes which will be broadcast starting from 20th of June 2021. The series is about how the Department safeguarded equality before the law and strived to serve the community in the past half century. It attempts to tell stories about the Department’s history, development, and its diversified service for the Hong Kong society through legally aided cases – from personal injuries and compensation, to crime and its presumption of innocent proven guilty defendant. From the development of the in-house specialists to building up the expertise in the department and it has never forgotten its commitment to seek justice for all, as review and reform considered as usual practice.
The“Legal Aid - a Gateway to Justice”is a programme recording the Legal Aid Department’s effort on its 50 years pursuit in serving the community and its contribution in the Rule of Law.
Starting from 20/6/2021, broadcast on RTHK 31 on every Sunday at 9:30 p.m.
Simultaneous live broadcast on RTHK website tv.rthk.hk and mobile app RTHK Screen.
After the initial broadcast, the programme can also be viewed from the archive on tv.rthk.hk, RTHK Screen, RTHK Radio Hong Kong YouTube and RTHK Podcast https://podcast.rthk.hk
A Gateway to Justice Trailer
Episode 1: A Man on an Isolated Island
| Date of Broadcast: | 20/6/2021(Sun) 9:30p.m. |
| Interviewees: | Mr Wong Legally-Aided person Doreen Chan Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel Betty Chan Assigned Solicitor John McNamara Assigned Counsel |
| Programme Archive： | https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=2085&eid=209384&year=2022&lang=en-US |
| Synopsis： | WONG is an elderly man in his eighties who worked hard most of his life to take care of his family. In 2015, WONG’s wife was paralysed by a stroke, and for a long time WONG took care of her all by himself, feeling isolated and helpless. He could not bear seeing his wife suffer anymore and took her life. This is such a tragedy in society. Although WONG is willing to accept legal sanctions, what he is facing is a serious charge of murder. Is the evidence sufficient? Although WONG is brought to trial in the court, he still has the right to defend. When a defendant lacks is legal knowledge. How can the legal aid system help him have a fair trial? |
Episode 2: A Way Out
| Date of Broadcast: | 27/6/2021(Sun) 9:30p.m. |
| Interviewees: | Tammy Hui Legal Aid Counsel Catherine Leung Legally-Aided person Charis Leung Catherine’s younger sister Derek Cheng Assigned Solicitor Doreen Chan Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel Chloe Wong Catherine’s niece |
| Programme Archive: | https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=2085&eid=209652&year=2022&lang=en-US |
| Synopsis: | Legal Aid Counsel Tammy HUI recalls that she assisted a lawyer to handle a legal aid case when she was serving as a trainee solicitor in a private law firm. The victim Catherine LEUNG suffered from total paralysis as a result of her injury during a business trip to the Mainland. However, as the insurance company did not reply to her for a long time whether compensation would be made to her, she could only seek help from the Legal Aid Department (LAD). During the lengthy process of litigation, Tammy and Catherine faced challenges together and learnt about the meaning of the services of the LAD to the people of Hong Kong. |
Episode 3: Calling for Justice
| Date of Broadcast: | 4/7/2021(Sun) 9:30p.m. |
| Interviewees: | Lester G. Huang Solicitor Tony Yen Solicitor / Former Law Draftsman Thomas Edward Kwong Director of Legal Aid Chris Chong Deputy Director of Legal Aid Simon Lau Senior Legal Aid Counsel Sophia Kwok Assigned Solicitor Clement Lau Assigned Counsel |
| Programme Archive: | https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=2085&eid=210005&year=2022&lang=en-US |
| Synopsis: | It has been more than 50 years since the establishment of the Legal Aid Department (LAD) which strives to ensure that any person who has reasonable grounds for taking or defending a legal action is not prevented from seeking justice because of a lack of means. Where did this legal aid system that provides professional legal services to the grassroots come from? This episode will start with the reminiscence from the first generation of professionals participating in legal aid work. They will tell us about how LAD in the early days helped workers when factories suddenly shut down and caged men whose tenancies were terminated to claim compensation; followed by tracing the old records to find out the reasons why legal aid could also be granted to Vietnamese migrants. |
Episode 4: Compensation for Injuries at Work
| Date of Broadcast: | 11/7/2021 (Sun) 9:30p.m. |
| Interviewees: | Mr Mak Legally-Aided person Allen Lam Assigned Solicitor Edward Tam Former Senior Law Clerk I Steve Wong Assistant Director of Legal Aid (Policy & Development) |
| Programme Archive: | https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=2085&eid=210409&year=2022&lang=en-US |
| Synopsis: |
In Hong Kong, the legislation regarding compensation to employees first appeared in 1953, and its scope of protection has been revised continuously since then. Nevertheless, there are still cases in which injured employees are not able to get compensation from time to time. In this episode, through the case of a recycling worker Mr. MAK, we can see how an injured employee seeks assistance from the Employees Compensation Assistance Fund with the help of legal aid service when the employer did not have a valid insurance. In addition, one will first have to prove the employer-employee relationship in order to obtain compensation for work-related injury. Outsourced workers and self-employed persons may not be protected by the legislations concerned, and whether there exists an employer-employee relationship often becomes the dispute of the case. With the help of legal aid service, Mr POON, an air-conditioning worker, appealed to the Court of Final Appeal with the appeal allowed. His case becomes a precedent that provides guidelines to define an employer-employee relationship. |
Episode 5: Labor Has a Price
| Date of Broadcast: | 18/7/2021 (Sun) 9:30p.m. |
| Interviewees: | Tsang Hin-kwok Former convenor of the ATV staff concern group/Legally-Aided person Ben Li Assistant Director of Legal Aid (Litigation) Linda Former cabin attendant of Hong Kong North West Express/Legally-Aided person Maze Chak Legal Aid Counsel Wingo Former ATV Staff Jason Lam Inspector, International Transport Workers’ Federation |
| Programme Archive: | https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=2085&eid=210854&year=2022&lang=en-US |
| Synopsis: | Generally speaking, issues of default in payment of wages are handled by the Labour Department. However, in some complicated situations, the Legal Aid Department (LAD) must step in to protect the interests of the employees. This episode will tell the stories of two of such cases, one involving Asia Television Limited and the other Hong Kong North West Express Limited, as examples to show how LAD helps workers recover their wages in arrears under different circumstances. |
Episode 6: Law, Reason and Sentiment for Domestic Affairs
| Date of Broadcast: | 8/8/2021 (Sun) 9:30p.m. |
| Interviewees: | Edwige Legally-Aided person Dicky Legally-Aided person Tony Yen Solicitor / Former Law Draftsman Doreen Chan Assistant Principal Legal Aid Counsel Wendy Bien Legal Aid Counsel Victor Chang Law Clerk |
| Programme Archive: | https://podcast.rthk.hk/podcast/item.php?pid=2085&eid=211071&year=2022&lang=en-US |
| Synopsis: | When a family dispute occurs and legal recourse is sought, the problems involved are usually more complicated than those of other cases. In the 1970’s, i.e. the early days of the Legal Aid Department (LAD) after its establishment, LAD started to handle cases related to family law litigation. These cases usually involve arguments over issues like divorce, alimony and child custody, and the situations are always complex. A woman from Africa who takes root in Hong Kong and a father who had gone astray seek legal aid on divorce and child custody respectively. It is really a great challenge to the legal team of LAD who specialises in matrimonial litigation to adopt a compassionate and rational approach when providing legal assistance to the aided persons. |