CNews Issue 3, 2009

On the other hand, demand for legal services continues to grow. While there is no shortage of lawyers providing legal services in many specialised fields these days, there are still huge demands for legal services, in areas that are either ignored or just not lucrative enough to attract the attention of busy lawyers. Asylum seekers, scrupulous consumer trade practices, migrant workers, labour disputes, public housing and tenancy disputes, discriminatory practices, just to name a few. We do have a great legal aid service, but it provides only legal representation. We also have a great Duty Lawyers Scheme which provides an advisory service, but it is a one-off advisory service that does not provide any follow-up action. Pro bono legal services are barely available. In many well-developed common law systems, the university fills in this gap by providing pro bono legal services to the community. They may take different forms, but the essence is that the services are provided by law students under the close supervision of staff who are qualified for legal practice. These services provide an invaluable learning experience for students alongside a valuable service to the community. They are invariably supported by the legal profession. Indeed, they could become a source of referral of works to the legal profession, as it is common experience that the more complex cases that come to such services are always referred to law firms that are willing to take up such cases. In the US and Canada, virtually every reputable law school runs a clinical programme providing such services. Many leading law schools in Australia have introduced such clinical programmes, and an increasing number of law schools in the UK have followed suit in recent years. At our 40 th birthday, it is high time for us to consider introducing this valuable service to the community. We have already run a successful pilot scheme at the Small Claims Tribunal. I am glad that the Judiciary, the Department of Justice, and the Bar Association are supportive of this initiative. Forty years ago, we planted the seeds that have proved to be crucial to upholding the rule of law in Hong Kong. Today, we hope to plant another seed that would lead to the blossoming of a service culture among law students and the next generation of lawyers. We have been bestowed with privileges and honour by the community in the past. It is time we give back in a small way to the community. Mission Professor Johannes Chan SC(Hon) 陳文敏 (LLB 1981; PCLL 1982) Dean, Faculty of Law Cover Story 7