Judge 'lost job due to efficiency drive'
A SENIOR judge says he was relieved of his job because his drive for greater efficiency in Hong Kong's notoriously slow legal system clashed with the interests of the legal profession.
Speaking for the first time about his departure from his post as acting Chief District Court Judge last week, Wayne Gould said he was responsible for cutting the waiting time for civil cases from 14 to two months and criminal cases from 12 to six months.
'We do not need extra judges . . . short in-court hours do not mean lazy judges. Judges work as hard as the existing system allows them to,' Judge Gould told The Sunday Morning Post.
'We just need an efficient system for bringing cases on for trial. I was on the way to providing that system. Unfortunately, some of the features of that system clashed with the interests of the legal profession.' Judge Gould claimed personal credit for about 80 per cent of the reductions in waiting time, although the District Court operated with two judges fewer than recommended.
He was angry at the length of time he was left to do the job on an acting basis - almost 14 months - and the extra salary he received: just $700.
A spokesman for the Judiciary agreed court waiting times had improved significantly during the judge's tenure. 'He was the acting Chief District Court Judge, so he was responsible for the listings, so of course he has contributed to the effort . . . but the improvement should be attributed to the entire Judiciary.' Judge Gould took on the workload of Chief District Court Judge in March 1994, although the position was created formally two months later. Since then he crusaded to slash inefficiencies which caused costly delays.
The judge presided over the listings court, where he ordered lawyers to state their fees publicly. The move aimed to stop defendants from appearing on their trial date claiming they were unable to pay legal fees and saying the trial could not go ahead.
