The proposals to change the system “are a sop to the wing of the DAB which wishes Hong Kong not only to be a police state but a nasty police state,”
It seems that no venerable Hong Kong institution is safe now that the forces of obsequious pro-government enthusiasm have shed all pretence of tolerating opposition.
The latest in line to have its reputation shredded is Legal Aid. This is a service which has been operating for many years without serious complaint. It pays for the services of lawyers for people who cannot afford them.
This is a potentially tricky area in that many of the people who seek legal aid are engaged in proceedings in which the government is on the other side. The most obvious example of this is criminal cases but there are others, like applications for judicial review.
Over the years the Legal Aid Department has done a good job of convincing most observers that it is sincerely neutral in considering the needs of applicants for its help, even though it is a part of the government, taxpayer-funded, etc. But that will not do, these days.
Coming soon to a rubber stamp near you is a reform which will deprive Legal Aid recipients in criminal cases of the right to choose the lawyer who will represent them in court. Why would anyone want to do that? Well the cue is in the word “criminal.” Nobody is complaining about the choice of lawyers in civil cases.
Reda the full article at HKFP. https://hongkongfp.com/2021/11/06/legal-aid-another-respectable-hong-kong-institution-vandalised/?utm_medium=email
