I. Legal Advice Scheme for Unrepresented Litigants on Civil Procedures (Procedural Advice Scheme) run by the Administration Wing of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office

I. Legal Advice Scheme for Unrepresented Litigants on Civil Procedures (Procedural Advice Scheme) run by the Administration Wing of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office

The Administration Wing of the Chief Secretary for Administration's Office has launched a scheme to provide free legal advice on civil procedures for litigants in person who are involved in legal proceedings in the District Court or higher courts and have not been granted legal aid, i.e. civil procedural matters in the following Courts (but not including civil proceedings in other tribunals):

• Lands Tribunal
• District Court
• Family Court
• Court of First Instance
• Court of Appeal of the High Court
• Court of Final Appeal

Eligibility

Service is available for unrepresented litigants who –

• have not been granted legal aid and have not engaged lawyers;
• are parties or who wish to join as parties to civil proceedings; and
• are not seeking advice for limited companies, societies, associations.

Scope of the Scheme 

Please note that the Scheme will not provide advice on merits of cases or act as legal representative but only advice on the legal process.

Examples of advice provided include: (a) explaining court rules and procedures, court documents, orders, trial procedures; (b) how to commence a court action; (c) how to make the various interlocutory applications; (d) how to prepare court documents; (e) how to prepare for a hearing; (f) explaining the costs involved in proceedings and the taxation of costs; (g) how to enforce a judgment or an order; and (h) explaining the procedures for launching an appeal.

Examples of matters not covered by the Scheme include: (a) legal aid application and legal aid appeal; (b) applications for letters of administration and the grant of probate; (c) petition/discharge of self-bankruptcy order; (d) cases involving law which is outside Hong Kong’s judicial system; (e) seeking advice for limited companies, societies, associations; (f) drafting legal documents; (g) applicants repeatedly seeking advice concerning the same issues or subject matters without additional information; (h) case involving merits; (i) cases involving hypothetical questions; (j) matters with no legal procedural issues involved; (k) the matters have been solved or superseded by event; or (l) cases involving complicated legal issues which require detailed research and studying of documents.

How to Apply

Applications shall be made in person at the Procedural Advice Scheme Office (the Scheme Office) or via the Scheme’s online system.  For the Scheme to assess eligibility of applicants, applicants are required to complete an application form each time they seek legal advice.

The Scheme operates on a first-come first-served basis. Save for applicants who have made appointment via the Scheme’s online system, applicants will be called to the counter according to the ticket number. The cut-off time for accepting applications for each half day is at 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively. However, if there are too many cases being processed or cases with ticket obtained, the Scheme Office may advance the cut-off time for accepting applications without prior notice. Applicants who have not obtained a ticket of the day can apply for services by visiting the Scheme Office on another working day or via the Scheme’s online system.

Procedural Advice Scheme Office

Admiralty Office: Room LG217, LG2/F, High Court Building, 38 Queensway, Hong Kong

Wanchai Office: Room 437, 4/F, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

Office Hours: Mondays to Fridays (except public holidays)

Enquiries: 22595017

Lawyers will take time to study the case materials and prepare for the advice session. Hence, applicants must fill in in details procedural question(s) intended to raise on the application form and provide relevant and recent court documents for lawyer’s consideration. Lawyers will not respond to any new questions raised or new documents provided during the interview. Applicants have to apply again and seek advice on those new questions or documents after the advice session.

Lawyers may seek further information from the applicant on a need basis. No advice session will be arranged for applicants who fail to provide documents or information. If necessary, documents may be photocopied and the originals will be returned to applicants. 

Advice Sessions

The Scheme will arrange eligible applicants to attend advice session of no more than 30 minutes. Advice sessions are attended by lawyers.

Advice will be provided through face-to-face interviews by lawyers. No written advice will be given nor advice be given via correspondence, telephone, electronic mail or any means other than face-to-face interview. Applicants agree to be advised by the assigned lawyer and cannot request to be advised by a particular lawyer. All correspondence or other contact between applicants and lawyers must be through the Scheme Office.

Applicants may attend a maximum of 5 advice sessions every 3 months for the same case. If an applicant fails to attend the allotted advice session, the advice session will still count against the 5-session limit.

For more details, please click here.