Legal Aid Department

Legal Aid Department
法律援助署
 Hong Kong Government Agency

Legal Aid Department Logo
Director of
Legal Aid		Chris Chong
Deputy Director
of Legal Aid		Juliana Chan
(Application and Processing)
Steve Wong
(Policy and Administration)
Mo Yuk Wah (Litigation)
Agency Information
Establishment1970
AffiliationChief Secretary for Administration's Office
HeadquarterQueensway Government Offices, 66 Queensway, Hong Kong
Contact
WebsiteOfficial Website
Legal Aid Department
Chinese法律援助署
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinFǎ​lǜ Yuánzhù Shǔ
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingfaat3 leot6 jyun4 zo6 cyu5
Legal Aid Department

The Legal Aid Department (often abbreviated as LAD) is a department of the Government of Hong Kong. It provides legal aid in the form of legal representation by a solicitor or barrister in civil and criminal proceedings in the District Court and above.

The department is headed by the Director of Legal Aid and is overseen by the Legal Aid Services Council.

In the wake of a number of successful judicial review applications that were made with support from the Legal Aid Department, some pro-government voices criticised the legal aid system for being open to "abuse" and "monopolisation".[1]

In 2021, the government announced a series of measures to curb applicants' ability to choose their own lawyer, and to limit the number of legal aid cases an individual lawyer could take up.

Source:[2]

  • Desmond Francis O'Reilly Mayne QC (1968-1981)
  • Brian Patrick Clancy (1981-1983)
  • Patrick Ronald Moss (1984-1993)
  • Pauline Cheung Cheng Po-Lin, Lady Cheung (1993 - June 1996)
  • Chan Shu-Ying (June 1996 - 7 August 2004)[3]
  • Benjamin Cheung King-man (8 August 2004 - 3 January 2010)[4]
  • William Chan Heung-ping (4 January 2010 - September 2013)
  • Thomas Edward Kwong (2 September 2013 - 14 March 2022)
  • Chris Chong (15 March 2022 - present)[5]

References

  1. ^ "Chief Secretary for Administration's Blog - Improve the operation of legal aid to prevent abuse and monopolisation". www.cso.gov.hk. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  2. ^ "法律援助署五十周年紀念特刊 | Legal Aid Department 50th Anniversary Commemorative Publication". www.lad.gov.hk. p. 50-51. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  3. ^ "New chief read all about it". South China Morning Post. 1995-12-20. Archived from the original on 22 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  4. ^ "政府委任法律援助署署長". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 2024-07-22.
  5. ^ "Senior appointment (with photo)". www.info.gov.hk. Retrieved 2024-07-22.