13 Nov 2024法庭線#4231
新田科技城司法覆核 謝世傑申法援3個月未獲批 官指沒考慮逼切性促盡快處理
The Government is pressing ahead with development of the Northern Metropolis. In May this year, the Director of Environmental Protection conditionally approved an environmental impact assessment report concerning the San Tin Technopole. Tse Sai-kit, convenor of the Save Lantau Alliance, filed a judicial review application in a personal capacity seeking to overturn the decision. Leave was granted and the case is scheduled to be heard next June.
Tse Yat-fong applied for the legal proceedings to be put on hold, saying that there had still been no outcome nearly three months after applying for legal aid. High Court Judge Ko Ho-man rejected the application. In a judgment handed down on Wednesday (13th), the judge said that granting Tse’s application would imply that the court considered the case-management timetable neither important nor urgent, and that the best course was therefore to continue pressing the Legal Aid Department to deal with the application as soon as possible.
Ko said he had initially believed that the Legal Aid Department could make a decision within a short time, but later found this to have been “overly optimistic and mistaken”. He also commented on the department’s letter replying to Tse, saying it appeared disinclined to consider the public interest, and describing the letter as “a little embarrassing and unhelpful”. Tse Sai-kit said the judgment had been forwarded to the department, hoping that it could complete its assessment as soon as possible.
政府力推北部都會區發展，環保署署長今年 5 月有條件批准牽涉新田科技城的環評報告。守護大嶼聯盟召集人謝世傑以個人身分，入稟申請司法覆核要求推翻決定，獲批出許可排期，明年 6 月審理。
謝一方申請暫擱法律程序，指申請法援至今近 3 個月仍未有結果，被高院法官高浩文拒絕。官周三（13 日）頒判詞指，一旦批准謝的申請，將意味法庭認為案件管理時間表不重要、不逼切，故最好方法是繼續力促署方盡快處理。
高浩文指原本認為法援署能在短時間內決定，但後來發現是「是過分樂觀及錯誤」。他又評論法援回覆謝的信件，指似乎不傾於考慮涉公眾利益，形容信件「有點難看及毫無幫助」。謝世傑回覆指，已將判詞轉交署方，望署方能盡快完成審批。
23 Mar 2024法庭線#3236
女同志被撤法援終極敗訴 終院指律師有責舉報獲委派前知悉的涉濫用資料
MK, a lesbian who sought a judicial review several years ago over the rights to same-sex marriage and civil unions, had her legal aid withdrawn and lost her final appeal at the Court of Final Appeal on Friday (22nd). MK had been anonymously reported as operating a pet-shop business, and the Legal Aid Department revoked her assistance after making inquiries, based on information provided by two barristers from their meetings with MK.
The dispute concerned whether information from MK’s meetings with her lawyers was protected by legal professional privilege (LPP). The Court of Final Appeal ruled that, under the Legal Aid Regulations, solicitors and barristers have a duty to report to the department information relating to the misuse of legal aid that they know before being assigned to represent a recipient, and that such information is not protected by LPP. All five judges unanimously ruled against MK.
數年前就同性婚姻及民事結合權利，提司法覆核的女同志 MK，被撤銷法援；MK 上訴至終審法院，周五（22 日）被裁定終極敗訴。事件中，MK 被匿名舉報擁寵物店業務，而法援署經查詢後，基於兩名大律師提供與 MK 會面時的資料，而撤銷其援助。
案件爭議 MK 與律師會面的相關資料，是否受「法律專業保密特權」（LPP）保障。終院裁定，在《法援規例》下，律師和大律師有責任向署方舉報，獲委派代表受助人之前所知悉的涉濫用法援資料，而相關資料不受 LPP 保障。5 名法官一致裁定 MK 一方敗訴。
6 Feb 2024法庭線#2950
8.25葵涌｜男子事隔逾4年被控串謀暴動等 稱未成功申法援 官要求職員到庭解釋
The Tsuen Wan–Kwai Tsing march on 25 August 2019 had initially been issued with a letter of no objection by police. Road blockages subsequently occurred and were dispersed by police. A 39-year-old man was charged with conspiracy to riot and other offences four years and four months later. The case was relisted in the District Court on Tuesday (6th).
The defendant appeared in person and said he had still been unable to successfully apply for legal aid. Judge Luen Kin-hung questioned this, noting that the incident had taken place in 2019. The defendant clarified that he was not charged until early January 2024. The judge ordered a Legal Aid Department staff member to attend court to explain. The case was ultimately adjourned to 29 February, and the defendant was allowed to remain on bail.
2019 年 8 月 25 日的「荃葵青遊行」原獲警方發出不反對通知書，及後有人堵路，被警方驅散。一名 39 歲男子事隔 4 年 4 個月後，被控串謀暴動等罪，案件周二（6 日）在區院再訊。
被告親自應訊指，仍未能成功申請法援；法官練錦鴻一度質疑，指案發為 2019 年，被告則澄清自己 2024 年 1 月初始遭檢控。官一度下令法援署職員上庭解釋，最後批准案件押後至 2 月 29 日再訊，被告續准保釋。
25 Jul 2023獨媒#8072
港鐵查票竟跪頸 青年擬索償惟申法援被拒
A youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder who holds a Registration Card for People with Disabilities was stopped and restrained on the ground by at least five MTR staff members last year while exiting at Heng Fa Chuen Station using a disability Octopus card. A staff member also knelt on his neck, and he required 11 days of hospital treatment. The youth was charged with assaulting MTR staff. The court earlier found him not guilty, but convicted him of criminal damage and fined him for damaging a staff member’s spectacles. In the judgment, the magistrate strongly criticised the MTR staff for using “unacceptable” methods to restrain him, and said the MTR Bylaws did not authorise staff to use reasonable force. The youth had earlier planned to bring a civil compensation claim against MTR, but his application for legal aid was refused. After enduring considerable pressure from the case, he said he was now uncertain whether to continue pursuing the claim, but had still not come to terms with what happened: “I just want MTR to apologise.”
一名患強迫症、持殘疾人士登記證的青年去年在港鐵杏花邨站，以殘疾人士八達通出閘時，遭最少5名職員截查和按地制服，青年更被跪頸，需住院11天。受襲青年被控告襲擊港鐵職員，法庭早前裁定他罪名不成立，但因損毀職員的眼鏡，刑毀罪成罰款。裁判官在判詞狠批港鐵職員以「不堪」手法制服，亦指《港鐵附例》無賦權職員可用合理武力。青年早前擬向港鐵提出民事索償，但申請法援遭拒。歷經案件龐大壓力後，他透露已對是否繼續索償抱有疑問，但對事件仍未釋懷，「我淨係想港鐵道歉」。
18 Oct 2022法庭線#2620
免針紙司法覆核 郭卓堅申法援被拒上訴得直
The Government said seven private doctors were suspected of improperly issuing “vaccine exemption certificates”, and that the more than 20,000 certificates they had issued were originally scheduled to become invalid from Wednesday (12th). Kwok Cheuk-kin, known as the “Cheung Chau Judicial Review King”, was granted leave by the High Court last Monday to seek a judicial review challenging whether the Government’s decision was unlawful. The Legal Aid Department subsequently said Kwok did not have “legal standing” to bring the review and refused his legal-aid application. Kwok appealed against the decision. The case was heard in camera at the High Court on Tuesday (18th), which ruled in his favour.
政府指 7 名私家醫生涉嫌濫發「免針紙」，原定他們所發出的逾兩萬張「免針紙」周三（12 日）起失效。「長洲覆核王」郭卓堅上周一獲高等法院批出司法覆核許可，挑戰政府的決定或屬違法。法援署其後指，郭卓堅沒有「法定地位」提覆核，拒批法援。郭卓堅不服提出上訴，案件周二（18 日）於高等法院進行閉門聆訊，裁定郭上訴得直。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
