Legal aid for a Hong Kong civil dispute: checking the official process
Legal aid for a Hong Kong civil dispute runs through the Legal Aid Department (LAD), which provides representation to an eligible applicant by a solicitor and, if necessary, a barrister. You can start either in person at one of two LAD offices or online through the Legal Aid Electronic Services Portal (LAESP), and the department decides the application on two statutory tests: financial eligibility and the merits of taking or defending the proceedings.
Who may apply, and what the department decides
Any person, whether or not resident in Hong Kong, who is involved in the qualifying court proceedings may apply.
Legal aid is available, inter alia, for cases in:
- the District Court
- the Court of First Instance
- the Court of Appeal
- the Court of Final Appeal
It is also available for committal proceedings in the Magistrates’ Courts.
LAD grants aid only if the applicant satisfies the statutory criteria as to financial eligibility and the merits for taking or defending the proceedings. Both tests are applied to the individual application; the official pages state the criteria but do not pre-judge any person’s outcome.
One boundary matters for litigants in person: LAD states that it does not provide a legal advice service to members of the public. Its publication “How to apply - Legal Services” points readers to where legal advice can be sought in Hong Kong.
What the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme covers
The Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme covers civil proceedings in the District Court, the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal, certain coroner’s inquests, and applications to the Mental Health Review Tribunal.
The case types listed by LAD are:
- matrimonial cases
- traffic accident claims
- landlord and tenant disputes
- claims in respect of industrial accidents
- employees’ compensation
- immigration matters
- breach of contract
- professional negligence
- seamen’s wage claims
- Mental Health Review Tribunal cases
- coroner’s inquests involving interests of public justice
One extension carries a specific date. With effect from 30 November 2012, the scheme has been expanded to cover monetary claims in derivatives of securities, currency futures or other futures contracts when fraud, misrepresentation or deception is involved in respect of the sale.
The pages cited here set out the Ordinary Legal Aid Scheme. They do not describe the scope of any other legal aid scheme, so if your dispute falls outside the courts and case types above, treat coverage as unconfirmed until LAD confirms it on your own application.
Two ways to start
Before applying, you have to give LAD sufficient information about your means and about the case the application relates to.
In person
- Attend one of the LAD offices.
- Collect the designated form and the case questionnaire.
- Complete both.
- Return them by post or in person.
The offices are at 25/F Queensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong (near Admiralty MTR Station), and G/F, Mongkok Government Offices, 30 Luen Wan Street, Kowloon (adjacent to Mongkok East MTR Station).
Through the Legal Aid Electronic Services Portal (LAESP)
This route is available if you are 18 years of age or over and the case is non-urgent.
- Go to the department’s website at www.lad.gov.hk.
- Enter the LAESP.
- Answer the key questions.
- Download the “Legal Aid Pre-application Information Form”.
- Fill the form in.
- Forward it online to LAD.
LAD will acknowledge receipt of the information through LAESP and assign you a transaction reference number. Once LAD has checked that the information supplied is in order, you will be given an appointment to make a formal application. Submitting pre-application information is the first step towards an application, not the application itself.
At the appointment
On the day of the appointment for the application of legal aid, you will be means tested. You may also be asked to give a detailed statement concerning your case, so that the merits of the application can be determined.
What these official pages leave open
- Amounts: no fees, contributions or cost figures are given in the cited pages.
- Timing: no filing deadline or processing time is stated, so none should be calculated from them.
- Acceptance: whether the department will accept service or documents in your particular circumstances is not addressed.
- Individual status: whether you personally qualify on means and merits is decided on your application, not inferred from the scheme lists.
Each of those has to be answered by LAD on your own file.