DoJ spends $190m on legal brains to argue cases

Eunice Lam

The Department of Justice spent HK$190 million last year to hire legal professionals to represent them in court.

In media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying's illegal assembly case alone, the DoJ spent HK$2.14 million to hire two senior counsel to handle the appeal, according to a document submitted to the Legislative Council recently.

The department had spent more than HK$59 million for 367 criminal cases and HK$49 million on 358 civil cases in the last fiscal year, which ended on March 31.

Lai, 76, and six former lawmakers - Martin Lee Chu-ming, 85; Albert Ho Chun-yan, 72; Lee Cheuk-yan, 66; Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, 75; Cyd Ho Sau-lan, 69; and "Long Hair" Leung Kwok-hung, 67 - were originally convicted of organizing and taking part in an illegal assembly on August 18, 2019, and were jailed for eight to 18 months in 2021. The seven appealed against their convictions and were acquitted of the charges by the Court of Appeal in August this year. But the conviction of taking part in the unauthorized rally stood, which resulted in having their sentences shortened by three to six months.

Both the activists and the Department of Justice appealed against the court's decision and applied to take the case to the SAR's top court.

"To ensure consistency, the local senior counsel and senior junior counsel who had been briefed as the trial prosecuting counsel, were continued to be briefed for the appeal," the DoJ said.

But earlier this month, the Court of Appeal rejected the Department of Justice's bid to overturn the acquittal of the seven.

In another criminal case listed in the document, 12 defendants were convicted of conspiracy to defraud for the sale of "Ding" rights - also known as "To Ding."

One local senior counsel and two local councils were engaged to deal with the constitutionality grounds, and another local senior counsel was hired to deal with all other grounds of appeal, costing a total of HK$5.71 million.

The appeal hearing was conducted from November 1 to 9 last year, with judgment reserved.

The civil cases also included late billionaire Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's inheritance disputes, in which over HK$2.87 million was spent in engaging one local senior counsel, and one local junior counsel, together with an accounting expert on the solvency of the Chinachem Charitable Foundation co-founded by Wang.

Another listed civil proceeding related to the breach of contracts for the manufacture and supply of equipment to the Fire Services Department involved HK$3.19 million.

Some HK$17 million was spent on 13 cases of construction disputes alone. The most expensive case was the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor lawsuit, which cost HK$10.5 million.

The administration filed a claim in the High Court in 2020 against six contractors and engineering consultants for damages over the construction of the 5.5-kilometer Shenzhen Bay Bridge, which was completed in 2007, after a cable snapped in February 2019.

"Fees and expenses incurred in relation to appointing an arbitrator as well as engaging a solicitors' firm, a London King's Counsel, a local junior counsel, a material expert, a bridge expert, a quantum expert, and a sampling expert in the arbitration and court proceedings," the DoJ stated in the document.