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SCMP Reporter

The Department of Justice has come under fire for ignoring legislators' pleas to make it an entry requirement for court prosecutors to have law degrees.

The criticism came as the department placed advertisements in the South China Morning Post  and Hong Kong Lawyer  for applications to fill nine court prosecutor posts at an entry-level salary of $14,300 a month. This is the first time since 1997 that the department has sought to hire new recruits for this grade.

The advertisements state that candidates should have completed education up to Form Seven, have good spoken English and fluent Cantonese.

Successful applicants will mainly prosecute in magistrates' courts and perform general court and administrative duties.

A non-affiliated legislator representing the legal profession, Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, was dismayed at the low entry requirements for the posts.

She called for the Government to explain why it had reneged on a pledge to phase out the court prosecutor grade though attrition.

She said it was no longer justifiable to hire court prosecutors with no legal qualifications as there were lawyers in Hong Kong who could take up the work.

Emily Lau Wai-hing of The Frontier criticised the Government's failure to raise the entry requirements.

A Justice Department spokesman said that the existing court prosecutor system was achieving the necessary high standard of service.

'It is more cost-effective than briefing out to barristers and solicitors in the private sector or recruiting qualified lawyers as government counsel,' he said.

The spokesman said the department had always been committed to maintaining the court prosecutor grade.



Low entry level for prosecutor jobs appals