LCQ17: Statistical information on judicial review cases
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Question:
Will the Government inform this Council of the following statistical information on judicial review (JR) cases since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region:
(1) the respective annual numbers of applications for leave to apply for JR which were (i) filed, (ii) granted and (iii) refused (set out in Table 1);
Table 1
| Year | (i) | (ii) | (iii) |
| 1997 | |||
| ... | |||
| 2017 |
(2) (i) the annual number of JR cases heard in the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court in which the Government was involved, together with a breakdown of such number by the court judgements which were (ii) in favour and (iii) not in favour of the Government as well as the respective percentages (set out in Table 2);
Table 2
| Year | (i) | (ii) | (iii) | ||
| Number of cases | Percentage | Number of cases | Percentage | ||
| 1997 | |||||
| ... | |||||
| 2017 | |||||
(3) the respective annual numbers of legal aid applications (i) received and (ii) approved by the Legal Aid Department (LAD) in respect of JR cases, and regarding those approved cases, the respective annual numbers of cases in which the court judgements were (a) in favour and (b) not in favour of the legal aid recipients as well as the respective percentages (set out in Table 3); and
Table 3
| Year | (i) | (ii) | (a) | (b) | ||
| Number of cases | Percentage | Number of cases | Percentage | |||
| 1997 | ||||||
| ... | ||||||
| 2017 | ||||||
(4) (i) the total amount of LAD's annual expenditure, and the (ii) amount in and (iii) percentage of such expenditure incurred for JR cases (set out in Table 4)?
Table 4
| Year | (i) | (ii) | (iii) |
| 1997 | |||
| ... | |||
| 2017 |
Reply:
President,
Under Hong Kong's legal system, which is based on the common law, judicial review (JR) is an integral part of the regime for safeguarding the rule of law. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government fully respects the people's right to seek judicial relief through JR, and will uphold the rule of law to ensure that such cases are dealt with appropriately in accordance with the relevant legal procedures.
Currently, the JR system in the HKSAR adopts a two-stage approach. Before the court hears a JR application substantively, the applicant must first file an ex parte application to the Court of First Instance of the High Court for leave to apply for JR.
Having consulted relevant departments and the Judiciary, we set out below our consolidated reply to the various parts of the question raised by Hon Tanya Chan –
(1) Statistics from the Judiciary on applications for leave to apply for JR and their outcome are at Annex A.
(2) Statistics provided by the Department of Justice on the numbers of decisions or judgments in JR cases handed down by the Court of Final Appeal or the High Court in respect of which the HKSAR Government was involved, together with a breakdown of the outcome in favour of or not in favour of the Government and the respective percentages, are at Annex B.
(3) & (4) Statistics from the Legal Aid Department on the numbers of legal aid applications and legal aid certificates granted in respect of JR cases, the success rate for legally-aided JR cases and the legal expenditure on legally-aided JR cases are at Annex C.
Ends/Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Issued at HKT 14:30
Issued at HKT 14:30
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