Lawyers offer rare praise for government on legal aid reform
The government - accused recently of dragging its feet on legal aid reform - has 'at least' shown goodwill by promising to allocate HK$100 million to expand the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, the head of a Bar Association committee said.
The barristers' body was commenting on the announcement in last week's policy address that the scheme was to be expanded to cover more types of cases.
These include claims for damages for professional negligence in a wider range of professions and for wages and employee benefits.
'At least it shows goodwill,' Ruy Baretto SC, chairman of the Bar Association's legal aid reform committee, said. 'At least they are talking about expanding. That is an important commitment that wasn't made before.'
Baretto said the HK$100 million in earmarked funds was a little surprising. It indicated that the government did not lack funds for legal aid services, he said.
Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, chairwoman of the Legislative Council panel on the administration of justice and legal services, called the announcement 'a very good sign' that 'shows at least the government is prepared to move forward'. She hoped the administration would not delay in putting the plans into action.
Previously, the Home Affairs Bureau had announced that it planned to lower the bar for legal aid applicants by raising the financial eligibility limits. Where previously, applicants with financial resources of less than HK$175,800 were eligible for the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme, under the proposal, the limit would be raised to HK$260,000. For the Supplementary Legal Aid Scheme, the limit would be raised from HK$488,400 to HK$1.3 million.
Despite the proposed changes, the government has been under fire from lawmakers, the Bar Association and the Law Society for not going far enough. They say the supplementary scheme should be expanded to cover other kinds of cases. The Bar Association wants the limits raised to HK$350,000 for the ordinary scheme, and HK$3 million for the supplementary one.