SOME solicitors are reluctant to join the publicly funded Duty Lawyer Service because of 'unattractive and unjust' payments offered by the Government, it was claimed yesterday.
At a meeting of the Administration of Justice and Legal Services Panel, the scheme's chairman, Lawrence Lok QC, told legislators that lawyers on the scheme - who represent defendants - are paid at a lower rate than prosecutors who take up cases from the Legal Department.
As a result, defendants might be represented by counsel junior to the prosecutors, he said.
Duty lawyers are paid at a daily rate of $4,800, plus an additional $600 per hour for cases of a complex nature which require extensive research.
Prosecutors in magistrates' courts are paid $5,050 per day while those dealing with complex cases would get $7,220.
Mr Lok said it was sometimes difficult for the duty lawyers to claim expenses for pre-trial preparation on complex cases.
Between November 1992 and December last year, 60 applications had been filed claiming a total of 399 hours, but only 223.5 hours were approved, resulting in a payment of $107,750.
