Where a legal aid certificate is granted, the Director of Legal Aid may act for the aided person through lawyers employed in the Legal Aid Department. If the Director does not act for the aided person, he or the aided person may select a solicitor or counsel to act for the aided person. The Director maintains separate panels of counsel and solicitors who are willing to investigate, report and give opinion upon applications for legal aid and to act for aided persons, as required under the Legal Aid Ordinance.




Counsel or solicitors holding current practising certificates may apply to join the Legal Aid Panel, unless the Director is satisfied that there is good reason to exclude them by reason of their conduct in any particular case or their professional conduct generally. There are more than 700 counsel and 2,000 solicitors on the Panel.




To join the Panel, counsel or solicitors have to complete a Panel Entry Form (Form LAP3 - for counsel; Form LAP1 - for solicitors) giving their personal particulars and information on their experience and expertise. Counsel or solicitors already on the Panel may make use of the Data Update Form (Form LAP4 - for counsel; Form LAP2 - for solicitors) to notify the Director of any changes to the information provided since joining the Panel, or the Removal Form (Form LAP5) to request removal of their names from the Panel. As Senior Counsel are exempted from the minimum experience requirements for assignment of legal aid work, they are not required, when applying to join the Legal Aid Panel or completing the Panel Update Form, to provide particulars on the number of cases they have handled in the past 3 years. They should, however, indicate the areas of civil and/or criminal work they wish to be considered for assignment.



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