Staff establishment of the Department of Justice

(as at 31 December 2022)

Headcount of Department of Justice as at 31 December 2021. This table consists of 6 columns and 8 rows. The first column is 'DIVISION', the second column is 'Directorate Counsel', the third column is 'Non-directorate Counsel', the forth column is 'Para-legal Staff #', the fifth column is 'Other staff', the sixth column is 'Total'. The first row is 'Secretary for Justice's Office', the second row is 'Civil', the third row is 'International Law', the forth row is 'Law Drafting', the fifth row is 'Legal Policy', the sixth row is 'Prosecutions', the seventh row is 'Administration & Development', the eighth row is 'Total number of posts'. End of summary
  DIRECTORATE NON-DIRECTORATE

TOTAL		 97+[3] 1 407
1 504+[3]

[ ] Supernumerary post created under the approval of Finance Committee.

Civil Division

Advisory Units. This table consists of 3 columns and 2 rows. The first column is 'Number of pieces of advice given', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
2021 2022
Number of pieces of legal advice given 14 663 14 631
Number of contracts, tenders and other legal documents drafted / vetted 846 726
Advisory Units. This table consists of 3 columns and 8 rows. The first column is 'Number of pieces of advice given', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
2021 2022
Total number of current civil litigation cases 42 165 42 123
Number of civil proceedings instituted by government 1 349 1 619
Number of civil proceedings instituted against government 2 642 1 981
Civil litigation cases with hearing(s) at all levels of court 2 140 2 437
(a) Court of Final Appeal 14 13
(b) Court of Appeal 48 32
(c) Court of First Instance 233 287
(d) Other Courts, Tribunals, Council and Boards 1 845 2 105

Constitutional and Policy Affairs Division

Constitutional and Policy Affairs Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 5 rows. The first column is 'Number of pieces of legal advice given', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Number of pieces of legal advice given 2021 2022
Overall legal policy affairs matters 3 030 2 670
Basic Law matters 1 196 1 539
Human rights issues 835 594
Constitutional development and election matters 905 537
Mainland law and related matters 969 625
Total 6 935 5 965

International Law Division

International Law Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 3 rows. The first column is 'none', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
2021 2022
Number of international agreements on legal co-operation in criminal matters initialled 0 0
Number of pieces of legal advice provided 27 316 34 552
Number of new requests dealt with in various categories of mutual legal assistance 381 346

Law Drafting Division

Law Drafting Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 6 rows. The first column is 'Legislative drafting work', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Legislative drafting work 2021 2022
Drafts of legislation released1 2 789 2 610
Number of pieces of legal/professional advice given (including written and oral advice) 3 989 3 719
Papers prepared2 90 110
  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 Law Drafting Division 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 the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and Law Draftsman's certificates for private Bills, etc.
Law Drafting Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 4 rows. The first column is 'Volume of legislation drafted', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Volume of legislation gazetted 2021 2022
Number of Bills gazetted 36 25
Number of pages of bilingual text (as gazetted) 4 622 3 224
Number of pieces of subsidiary legislation 238 239
Number of pages of bilingual text (as gazetted) 5 540 4 816
Law Drafting Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 2 rows. The first column is 'Volume of legislation enacted', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Volume of legislation enacted 2021 2022
Number of Ordinances enacted 42 17
Number of pages of bilingual text of Committee Stage Amendments incorporated into Ordinances 221 53

Prosecutions Division

Prosecutions Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 1 row. The first column is '', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
2021 2022
Number of pieces of legal advice given 15 410 14 610
Prosecutions Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 8 rows. The first column is 'Criminal cases / appeals at all levels of court', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Criminal cases / appeals at all levels of court 2021 2022
Court of Final Appeal and related applications

Court of Appeal

Court of First Instance (Magistracy Appeals)

Court of First Instance

District Court

Magistrates' Courts

Prosecutions Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 6 rows. The first column is 'Percentage of criminal cases conducted in Chinese', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Percentage of criminal cases conducted in Chinese 2021 2022
Court of Final Appeal and related applications 75.0% 100.0%
Court of Appeal (criminal appeals) 42.4% 41.0%
Court of First Instance (Magistracy appeals) 81.3% 84.8%
Court of First Instance (criminal trials) 23.8% 20.3%
District Court (criminal trials) 83.1% 83.7%
Magistrates' Courts (criminal trials) 81.5% 80.0%
Prosecutions Division. This table consists of 3 columns and 4 rows. The first column is 'Briefing out (number of court days)', the second column is '2021' and the third column is '2022'. End of summary
Briefing out 2021 2022
No of cases No of court days No of cases No of court days
Appeals



Court of First Instance (criminal trials) 164 1629 126 931
Magistrates' Courts (criminal trials)



* Lawyers instructed in place of Court Prosecutors are briefed to attend to all cases on the basis of the daily cause list before a particular magistrate.