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Our Services
Before applying for legal aid, you have to provide us with sufficient information about your means and the case to which your application relates. You can do this either in person or through the Legal Aid Electronic Services Portal (LAESP).
You can attend one of the offices of the Legal Aid Department at:
to collect a designated form and a case questionnaire for completion and return by post or in person.
If you are 18 years of age or over and it is a non-urgent case, you can submit pre-application information online as a first step towards making an application for legal aid through the LAESP via our department's website at www.lad.gov.hk
By accessing LAESP, you can download the “Legal Aid Pre-application Information Form” after answering some key questions. The form, once filled in, can be forwarded online to LAD. LAD will acknowledge receipt of the information through LAESP and assign you a transaction reference number. Once LAD has checked that the information supplied is in order, you will be given an appointment to make a formal application.
There is no application fee payable unless your application is under the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme.
On the day of the appointment for the application of legal aid, you will be means tested. You may also be asked to give a detailed statement concerning your case to determine the merits of your application.
While processing your application for legal aid, we may need to obtain information from third parties. When all the relevant information is collected, the lawyer handling your application will determine whether legal aid should be granted.
However, if the case is urgent, you must attend one of our offices and inform our staff that your case is urgent. We will accord priority for an early application to be made.