§ 2.42 p.m.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will act to allow legal aid in Hong Kong to persons when they appear in a magistrates' court and not only on appeal after conviction to a higher court.
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, because of the very large number of cases involved, it would be impracticable to provide legal aid in all cases. The Hong Kong Government, however, intend to expand the scheme initiated in January this year in certain magistrates' courts, under which a duty lawyer provides free legal assistance in appropriate cases.
§ Lord BROCKWAYMy Lords, while welcoming that reply so far as it goes, may I ask my noble friend the Minister whether he is aware that 67 per cent. of more than 100 cases dealt with by Councillor Elsie Elliott in her ward office were subsequently dismissed, amended or quashed when they went to appeal, and that a number of the defendants in those cases were kept in detention for long periods, sometimes even up to one year? Can the Minister give us an assurance that the legal aid scheme there will be extended, because these illiterate people are utterly bewildered in the magistrates' court, and do not know what is happening?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, perhaps I should explain that financial assistance to meet the cost of legal representation is available under the Hong Kong Governor's criminal legal aid scheme to all defendants who need it in district or High Court cases. It is not available in magistrates' courts although it is available to people appealing against convictions or sentences passed by magistrates' courts. However, I accept my noble friend's view, which I know is based on a report presented by Councillor Mrs. Elliott (a lady who has a deserved reputation for assisting the under-privileged of 1788 all kinds in Hong Kong) that the absence of adequate legal aid in that country, as in any other country, can lead to the results that my noble friend has described. This House has recent experience of improving our own legal aid system for the reasons, among other reasons, given by my noble friend.