Legal aid error may have denied justice to Hong Kong's poor
Inquiry demanded after court papers show the wrong test for funding application was used for civil case for the third time, at least
The Legal Aid Department has repeatedly used the wrong test to assess whether or not to fund civil cases, raising concerns that the poor have been denied access to justice.
A recent High Court judgment showed the department had required a case to demonstrate a more than 50 per cent chance of success to qualify for legal aid, rather than a "reasonable chance of success", as written in the legal aid ordinance.
The incorrect test was adopted despite at least two earlier judgments ruling that the over-50 per cent threshold was wrong - one in 2012 and one as far back as 1999.
The correct test is even stated on the department's website.
Lawmaker James To Kun-sun, who is also a solicitor, said: "I can't understand why the Legal Aid Department keeps applying the wrong test again and again. It just does not respect the law and earlier decisions made by the courts.
"It is a straightforward test," he added. "Legal aid is too important a support for the poor who may be fighting the government and the powerful and the rich."
He called on the department to investigate the error and make sure it did not happen again.