bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

PEOPLE who sue over unsatisfactory products or services with the help of the Consumer Council will probably have to share the proceeds with the body.

  Council vice-chairman Anna Wu Hung-yuk said the body planned to set up a $10 million legal action fund this year to assist consumers who do not have other channels for seeking redress.

  The initiative was announced by the Governor, Chris Patten, in his policy speech last year.

  Since the council would depend on the interest generated by the $10 million seed money and the one-off $1 million operation cost provided by the Government, Miss Wu said it had to explore alternative sources of income.

  One possibility was to share a percentage - probably about 10 per cent - of the proceeds recovered.

  The concept is similar to the supplementary legal aid scheme which has worked well and is in surplus.

  In addition, there will be a handling fee of less than $100 for applicants to seek redress with the help of the fund. For big claims, a higher handling fee will be levied.

  To start with, expenses might eat into the capital but the recovery of proceeds should be able to maintain the scheme.

  Voluntary donations from consumers whom the council has assisted would also be a welcome source, but Miss Wu said the council would be reluctant to accept other types of donations to avoid compromising impartiality and independence.

  The cases they would take up would probably be those which had a pattern under the existing complaints record of the Consumer Council: product liability such as labelling requirements, defective products and safety requirement; misleading advertisements and standardisation of contracts.

  ''Representative action will be a useful adjunct to the existing Consumer Council activities. We receive complaints, conduct investigation and negotiate for settlement. If we still fail to secure redress after all these procedures, we will be able to pass the case to the action fund,'' she said.

  Miss Wu said merit would be the main criterion on whether to take a case.

  ''If we lose, we will have to pay litigation expenses. If we win, we get recovery. We cannot have too many losses, the litigation will be covered by the fund.

  ''We have to go through a vigorous merit test to ensure our chances of success are high.''   The council will set up a committee to vet cases and will retain a legally qualified person to prepare documents and attend court on behalf of consumers.

  Most of the claims they would deal with were likely to be small claims which would be difficult for individual consumers to take to court, because the effort and expense involved was disproportionate to the amount of the claim.

  Although the fund would not restrict the level of court it goes to, Miss Wu envisaged most cases would go to the Small Claims Tribunal.



Consumers may share damages with fund