Plans to assign lawyers under legal aid reform

The government has proposed changes to the legal aid system so that aid recipients in criminal cases can no longer choose their own lawyers, unless under exceptional circumstances.

The suggested revamp came after criticism from lawmakers who said the system has been abused.

In a paper submitted to Legco, the Legal Aid Department said the current practice is that aid recipients in criminal cases nominate a lawyer and the department considers the nomination after taking into account various factors.

But officials pointed out that the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases Rules do not cover the nomination of lawyers, unlike in civil cases.

“This practice has given some legally aided persons and members of the public a misconception that the nomination of lawyers for criminal cases is a statutory ‘right’ of the legally aided persons,” the department said.

It suggested that in future, the Director of Legal Aid will assign lawyers to defendants, and nominations will only be accepted under exceptional circumstances such as when the lawyer concerned had represented the defendant in lower courts.

Officials said the proposal could avoid misconceptions and allow the department to build up a larger pool of lawyers with experience in handling criminal legal aid cases.

The department also proposed lowering the quotas of legal aid cases of lawyers.

In future, solicitors can only take at most 30 civil cases in a year, down from 35; and counsels can only take 15, down from 20.

For judicial review cases, solicitors can only accept a maximum of five per year, while the cap is three for counsels.

Legco’s legal services panel will discuss the proposals on Tuesday.