THE Bar Association is looking for doctors to volunteer as expert court witnesses in its free legal services scheme, which is suffering from inadequate resources.
The appeal came yesterday from the association's chairman, Ronny Tong Ka-wah, SC, who said the organisation had had 'preliminary contact' with the Hong Kong Medical Association but the response was 'not so desirable'.
Hong Kong Medical Association president and legislator Dr Lo Wing-lok claimed the association had not received a request for free services but said he welcomed discussion.
'It is always a good thing to help the courts to bring justice. But we need more details of the plan,' Dr Lo said.
Speaking after yesterday's 30th anniversary of the formation of the Legal Aid Department, Mr Tong said many of the cases taken on by the Bar Association's free legal services scheme required expert medical evidence.
'But expert evidence would mean additional costs. Therefore, we are considering whether the money should be collected from our members or from the public,' Mr Tong said.
'However, some members suggest that what we can do is very limited because the association has only 700 members.'