A-G must fully explain fees' before payment
THE $1.5 million outstanding claim put in by Graham Grant for handling the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Ltd case should only be settled after the Legal Department has fully explained the terms of the agreement, legislators say.
The 26-page report by the Legislative Council panel on administration of justice and legal services yesterday urged Attorney-General Jeremy Mathews to make more 'positive and expeditious efforts' to trace the rationale, terms of agreement and calculation of the brief's fee.
'The outstanding claim of $1.5 million put in by Mr Grant should not be settled until all due clarifications have been obtained, including the basis for the brief fee,' it said.
The panel concluded it was inconceivable the departmental management had not properly documented such basic information. It said the fact the management was still unable to provide answers seven months after legislators raised the matter was indicative of 'the lack of cost consciousness within the department'.
The panel, chaired by legislator Simon Ip Sik-on, said: 'A stronger sense of cost and accountability should be reinforced among all legal and non-legal staff with management responsibilities in the department.' It also called for stronger leadership and urged the administration to take concrete steps to ensure the department was in the hands of effective and competent people.
The nine-member panel also recommended all briefing-out cases be reviewed periodically, for example, once every six months.
Cases which exceeded the budget or covered an extended period should be brought to the attention of the Attorney-General.
The legislators also called for tightening the procedure on the determination of outside professionals' fee scales. The chamber manager's role should be strengthened and the treasury accountant should play a part in the negotiation of fees.
The role of the instructing solicitors should also be clearly defined. They should be allowed to monitor counsels' activities.
The panel also suggested that, when seeking supplementary provision for briefing out from Legco, the department should provide more details to legislators, in particular, the cases incurring significant expenditure.
Legislators said Mr Mathews should report back on the progress of new control measures in six months.
