A SENIOR judge called yesterday for the appointment of a registrar to help people prepare their civil cases for the Court of Appeal, saying Supreme Court Registrar Julian Betts did not perform this duty.
'I wish he would do the work. But he does not,' Mr Justice Godfrey said.
The Supreme Court rules state that the Registrar can, at any time, give directions in relation to documents to be produced at the appeal.
'In practice, that never happens in Hong Kong,' the judge said. 'Papers are stuck in the court file and dumped on the judge.
'I have never yet, in two years here, seen the directions of the Registrar on the conduct of a civil appeal.' A Judiciary spokesman said Mr Betts did not consider it appropriate to comment on what Mr Justice Godfrey had said.
But the spokesman said the operations of the Supreme Court Registry, including support for the Court of Appeal, were being looked at as part of management services reviews.