The Department of Justice was urged yesterday to reduce its in-house staff and put more cases in the hands of private lawyers.
Non-affiliated legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, who represents the legal sector in Legco, said it was unnecessary to have so many in-house lawyers to handle criminal and civil cases.
According to the department's annual report for last year, 88 government lawyers are working in the civil division and 111 in the prosecutions division.
Ms Ng said the department should instead source more private lawyers with specialist expertise. 'Why can't the Department of Justice brief out more cases as the Legal Aid Department does?' she asked.
She strongly criticised the department's earlier move to hire eight court prosecutors when there was no evidence of any increase in workload.
'Had the cases been briefed out to lawyers with more experience, the hearings might not necessarily have to take so many days,' she said. 'Now the department has to keep its in-house lawyers regardless of whether there are cases for them to do.'
