Staff establishment
of the Department of Justice
(as at 31 December
2007)
| DIVISION | Directorate
Counsel | Non-directorate
Counsel | Para-legal
Staff # | Other
staff | Total |
| Secretary for Justice's Office | - | 1 | - |
12 | 13 | | Civil | 16 | 100 | 19 | 95 | 230 |
| International Law | 7 | 12 | 2 | 11 | 32 |
| Law Drafting | 15 | 23 | 15 | 53 | 106 |
| Legal Policy | 9 | 23 | 7 | 28 | 67 |
| Prosecutions | 19+1* | 100 | 133 | 201 | 453+1* |
| Administration & Development | - | 1 | - | 173 | 174 |
| Total number of posts | 66
+1* | 260 | 176 | 573 |
1,075+1* | # Court Prosecutors,
Law Translation Officers and Law Clerks
* supernumerary post
Rank and
post title of senior legal staff
|
|
Civil Division |
International Law Division |
Law Drafting Division |
Legal Policy Division |
Prosecutions Division |
| Law
Officer | Law
Officer (Civil Law) | Law
Officer (International Law) | Law
Draftsman | Solicitor
General | Director
of Public Prosecutions | |
Principal Government Counsel |
Deputy Law Officer |
Deputy Law Officer |
Deputy Law Draftsman |
Deputy Solicitor General |
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions |
| Deputy
Principal Government Counsel |
Senior Assistant Law Officer |
Deputy Principal Government Counsel |
Senior Assistant Law Draftsman |
Senior Assistant Solicitor General |
Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions |
Total
expenditure on departmental activities
| |
2006 (HK$ million) |
2007 (HK$ million) |
| Personal emoluments and personnel related
expenses | 502.7 |
522.0 | | Departmental
expenses | 59.9 |
65.6 | | Court
costs | 66.3 |
74.8 | | Hire
of legal services and related professional fees | 178.0 |
181.0 | | General
non-recurrent account | 1.5 |
0.5 | Training (a)
Courses attended by Department of Justice staff |
Number of participants (2006) |
Number of participants (2007) |
| Law-related training
and conferences | | |
| Legal trainee scheme |
10 | 17 |
| Courses on criminal law, evidence, procedure
& advocacy | 271 |
317 | | Workshops
and in-house seminars for Court Prosecutors | 297 |
164 | | Workshops
on the use of plain language | 79 |
- | | Seminar
on drafting of legislation in Chinese |
- |
30 | | Seminar
on preparing legal reports to the Standing Committee of the National People's
Congress | - |
30 | | Law
seminars/talks organized by divisions | 655 |
245 | | International
law conferences | 42 |
32 | | Law
courses and attachments outside Hong Kong | 19 |
20 | | Legal
courses and workshops by the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Advocacy Institute
and other local institutes | 300 |
331 | | Part-time
law studies sponsored by the department | 10 |
10 | | Workshops
on drafting of court documents in Chinese | 8 |
9 | | Mock
trials in Chinese | 9 |
9 | | Mock
appeals in Chinese | 6 |
6 | |
Total |
1,706 |
1,220 |
|
Number of participants (2006) |
Number of participants (2007) |
| National Studies,
Foreign Affairs Studies and China Law | | |
| National Studies courses for senior staff
at Peking University, Tsinghua University and the National School of Administration
and thematic study programmes in the Mainland | 14 |
11 | | National
Studies programme and special programme for expatriate officers at the National
School of Administration and Peking University, Beijing |
4 |
- | | Foreign
Affairs Studies programme at China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing |
2 |
- | | National
Studies courses for middle managers at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, and
Peking University, Shenzhen | 2 |
11 | | China
Law course for para-legal officers at Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou |
18 |
18 | | National
Studies seminars | 53
| 42 |
| Total |
93 |
82 |
|
Number of participants (2006) |
Number of participants (2007) |
Management training
(including training courses outside Hong Kong) | | |
| General management courses |
162 |
132 | | Directorate
seminars | 24 |
30 | | Leadership
in Action Programme | 2 |
4 | | Leadership
Enhancement and Development Programme | 3 |
- | |
Total |
191 |
166 |
|
Number of participants (2006) |
Number of participants (2007) |
| Communication
and language training | | |
| Putonghua courses |
79 |
56 | | Written
Chinese courses | 41 |
28 | | English
and communication courses | 52 |
41 | |
Total |
172 |
125 |
|
Number of participants (2006) |
Number of participants (2007) |
| Others | | |
| Induction courses for Government Counsel
and Legal Trainees |
8 |
42 | | Computer training
courses | 152 |
226 | | Visits
to government departments and organisations | 46 |
52 | |
Vocational/induction training for non-counsel grades |
34 |
8 | |
Total |
240 |
328 |
| Grand Total |
2,402 |
1,921 |
(b)
Courses provided by Department of Justice staff to others
| Legal
training seminars arranged by divisions for other Government departments |
Number of participants (2006) |
Number of participants (2007) |
| Civil Division |
20 | 149 |
| International Law Division |
97 | 30 |
| Law Drafting Division |
233 |
253 | | Legal
Policy Division | 781 |
1,322 | | Prosecutions
Division | 3,106 |
3,011 | | Secretary
for Justice's Office | 160 |
107 | |
Total |
4,397 |
4,872 |
Description 
Description 
Description 
Description Civil
Division Advisory
Units | Number
of pieces of legal advice given | 2006 |
2007 |
| (a) Planning, Environment,
Lands and Housing Unit | 1,756 |
1,747 | |
(b) Civil Advisory Unit |
11,053 |
9,587 | |
(c) Commercial Unit |
3,013 |
2,886 |
| | 2006 |
2007 |
| Number of commercial tenders, consultancy
briefs, contracts, licences and franchises drafted / vetted by the Commercial
Unit | 476 |
394 | | Number
of tenders, contracts and permits drafted / vetted by the Civil Advisory Unit |
38 | 33 |
| Number of contract documents drafted
/ vetted by the Planning, Environment, Lands and Housing Unit |
24 | 14 |
Civil Litigation Unit | |
2006 |
2007 |
| Number (and percentage) of civil litigation
cases in respect of which one or more outside professionals were briefed |
547 (3.2%) |
708 (3.8%) |
| Total number of current civil litigation cases |
17,270 |
18,561 |
| Selected categories of current civil litigation
cases | 2006 |
2007 |
| Tax, Stamp Duty, Estate Duty,
Rating & Government rent appeals |
4,568 |
4,811 | | Judicial
review / habeas corpus proceedings |
498 |
546 | | Building,
planning, environmental appeals |
197 |
222 | Personal
injuries proceedings
|
379 |
340 | | Medical Council,
Dental Council, Supplementary Medical Professions Council, Veterinary Surgeons
Board and Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board |
260 |
267 | | Land related
cases (other than land resumption) |
51 |
60 | | Land resumption |
235 |
227 |
| | 2006 |
2007 |
| Number of civil proceedings instituted by
Government | 1,305 |
1,247 | Amount
claimed / involved
| $203
million | $227
million | | Number
of civil proceedings instituted against Government |
919 |
886 | | Amount
claimed / involved | $483
million | $1,210
million |
| | 2006 |
2007 |
Number of Court of Appeal cases with substantive
hearings
| 42 |
35 | | Number
of Court of Final Appeal cases with substantive hearings |
8 | 10 |
International
Law Division
| |
2006 |
2007 |
Number of international agreements initialled
| 4 |
4 | | Number
of pieces of legal advice provided | 7,809 |
7,326 | | Number
of new requests dealt with in various categories of mutual legal assistance |
227 |
206 |
Law
Drafting Division
| Legislative
drafting work | 2006 |
2007 |
Drafts of legislation released1 |
3,264 |
2,663 | | Number
of pieces of legal/professional advice given (including written and oral advice) |
7,439 |
7,808 | Papers
prepared2 | 113 |
128 | Papers
commented on3 | 1,583 |
1,528 | | Drafting
conferences attended | 424 |
348 | | ExCo
and LegCo attendances | 531 |
454 |
| Volume
of legislation gazetted | 2006 |
2007 |
Number of Bills gazetted
|
19 |
28 | Number
of pages of bilingual text (as gazetted)
| 1,120 |
1,184 | | Number
of pieces of subsidiary legislation | 291 |
241 | |
Number of pages of bilingual text (as gazetted) |
4,132 |
2,194 |
| Volume
of legislation enacted |
2006 |
2007 |
| Number of Bills enacted |
23 | 21 |
| Number of pages of bilingual text of
Committee Stage Amendments incorporated in legislation |
978 |
586 |
| | | | 1 | This
includes all drafts of legislation (whether gazetted or not), including draft
Committee Stage Amendments. | | | |
| 2 | This
includes all drafts (other than legislation) prepared by LDD counsel (whether
issued in the name of individual counsel or
otherwise) for consideration
by parties outside the Administration. Examples are papers explaining legal points
submitted to Bills
Committees, legal reports to NPCSC and LD's certificates
for private bills, etc. | | | |
| 3 | This
includes all documents sent to LDD by parties outside DoJ for consideration and
comments. Examples are ExCo Memos,
LegCo Briefs, speeches by bureau secretaries,
private bills, draft replies, press releases, papers submitted to Bills committees
or LegCo's panels or ExCo's subcommittees, etc. | | |
Legal Policy
Division
| Visits
(and visitors) to and from the Mainland handled by the division |
2006 |
2007 |
| Number of visits (and visitors) from the Mainland |
44 (634) |
28 (382) | | Number
of visits (and visitors) to the Mainland | 5
(9) | 4
(12) | | Total |
49 (643) |
32 (394) |
| Number
of pieces of legal advice given |
2006 |
2007 |
| General legal policy |
680 |
660 | | Basic
Law and constitutional matters | 1,444 |
1,349 | | Human
rights | 1,438 |
1,173 | | Mainland
law | 396 |
434 | | Total |
3,958 |
3,616 |
Prosecutions Division
| |
2006 |
2007 |
| Number of pieces of legal advice given |
14,895 |
14,404 |
| Criminal
cases / appeals at all levels of court |
2006 |
2007 |
Court of Final Appeal and related applications
Number of appeals concluded
(including number of prosecution appeals) |
121
(7) |
111
(6) |
Court of Appeal
Number
of appeals heard
(including number of prosecution
appeals - case stated)
(Including number of prosecution
appeals - review of sentence) | 401
(1)
(13) | 486
(1)
(12) | Court
of First Instance (Magistracy Appeals)
Number
of appeals heard
(including number of prosecution
appeals - case stated) | 981
(2) | 1,009
(4) | | Court
of First Instance
Number of indictments |
171 |
190 | |
District Court
Number
of charge sheets | 1,177 |
1,242 | |
Magistrates Court
Number
of applications for review under section 104 of the Magistrates Ordinance (Cap.227)
Caseload of Court Prosecutors |
81
177,034
|
70
179,161
|
| High Court
Number
of bail applications | 668 |
775 | |
Death Inquests
Number
of inquests | 75 |
32 |
| Percentage
of criminal cases conducted in Chinese |
2006 |
2007 |
| Court of Final Appeal and related applications |
14.0% |
30.6% | | Court
of Appeal (criminal appeals) | 26.4% |
27.4% | | Court
of First Instance (Magistracy appeals) | 63.2% |
71.4% | |
Court of First Instance (criminal trials) |
23.5% |
24.7% | |
District Court (criminal trials) |
37.1% |
31.9% | |
Magistrates Courts (criminal trials) |
75.2% |
83.6% |
| Briefing
out (number of court days) | 2006 |
2007 |
Appeals
Court of Final Appeal and related
appeals
Other appeals | 16
14 | 3
12 | | Court of First
Instance (criminal trials) | 744 |
529 | | District
Court (criminal trials) | 2,902 |
2,881 | |
Magistrates Court (criminal trials)
In place of Government
Counsel
In place of Court Prosecutor |
720
969 |
1,189
1,493 |
 |
