Hong Kong Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said the government was looking into measures to restrict individual lawyers from taking too many cases referred by the Legal Aid Department, as pro-Beijing legislators claimed the system was being abused.

Under the existing system, applicants granted legal aid can choose the barristers to hire instead of having lawyers assigned to them. As a result, some lawyers may receive multiple cases through legal aid.

Elizabeth Quat of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong said at a Q&A session at the legislature on Wednesday that quite a number of judicial review applicants in recent years were granted legal aid to use public funds to engage the counsel of their choice to challenge the government. Some had raised concerns of abuse, she said.

Priscilla Leung, a Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong lawmaker and also a barrister, asked the government to stop allowing legal aid recipients to be able to choose their lawyers.

Michael Luk from the Federation of Trade Unions also claimed the system was being abused and asked the government if it would add “public interests” as a point for consideration in granting legal aid.

Cheung said in response that the United Kingdom and Canada also allowed legal-aid recipients to choose their barristers.

The Hong Kong Legal Aid Department has a rigorous mechanism that includes placing a limit on the number of cases that solicitors and barristers could take, Cheung added. The government was looking into tightening the limit so that more solicitors and barristers could take legal aid cases, he said.

Cheung said he would consider Luk’s suggestion but said that the government had to be very careful, as it must maintain equality for everyone before the law and the presumption of innocence.

He added that his office and the Legal Aid Department were reviewing the system regarding applications related to judicial reviews in terms of operational matters such as administration, assignment of cases and selection of lawyers.

They will consult the Legal Aid Services Council on concrete proposals as soon as possible and will report to the Legislative Council Panel on Administration of Justice and Legal Services within three to four months, he added.

At a Q&A session with Chief Executive Carrie Lam earlier this month, Quat had criticized the current system for granting legal aid to a woman who was allegedly shot in the eye with a police projectile — an allegation Quat claimed was “fake news.” Lam said the legal aid system was not perfect and could be reviewed, but it was one of the advantages of Hong Kong’s rule of law and one of the core values that should be maintained.

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