Skip to main content
About Us
About Us> Aims and Programme Areas > JA's Presentation and Replies to Finance Committee

The Judiciary Administrator's Speaking Notes at the Special Meeting of Finance Committee on 11 April 2023

2023-24 Draft Estimates

The draft Estimates of 2023-24 for the Judiciary is $2,481.0 million, which represents an increase of $133.9 million or 5.7% over the revised estimates for 2022-23 and 3.3% over the original estimates for 2022-23. In 2023-24, the net additional financial resources required are mainly for filling existing judicial and non-judicial vacancies, additional operating expenses for strengthening court operations, facilitating the application of information technology in the Judiciary, and enhancing administrative support for court operations and other functions of the Judiciary.

Judicial Manpower

2.     The establishment of judicial posts now stands at 211 while the number of serving Judges and Judicial Officers is 166. Over the past years, the Judiciary has been launching open recruitment exercises for filling judicial vacancies at appropriate timing, having regard to the judicial manpower situation and operational needs at different levels of court. Three Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court (CFI), six District Judges and ten Permanent Magistrates were recruited during the latest round of recruitment exercises.

3.     The Judiciary would continue to monitor the judicial manpower situation and engage deputy Judges and Judicial Officers to meet operational needs as far as practicable.

Non-Judicial Manpower

4.     For non-judicial manpower, in 2023-24, there will be a net decrease of three civil service posts due to the lapse of three time-limited civil service posts. In addition, following a review of our overall manpower requirements, 13 civil service posts will be created for meeting operational needs, including -

  1. (a)     introduction of pilot scheme to enhance mediation service for the Family Court; and
  2. (b)     providing enhanced support for the use of information technology in the Judiciary.

The resources required will be absorbed internally through the deletion of comparable number of civil service posts.

Overview of the Judiciary’s Work and Operation

5.     In 2022, despite the fluctuating public health situation, we managed to handle an overall caseload which was comparable to that in 2019 before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The target court waiting times for civil cases have generally been achieved. The average waiting time for some types of criminal cases at various levels of court continued to exceed the relevant targets. This was mainly due to the need to re-fix hearings following the reduction in court capacity in light of the 5th wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to accord priority to handling the upsurge of cases relating to anti-extradition amendment bill incidents (anti-EAB cases) in 2019 and National Security Law (NS cases) which required more judicial manpower and longer trial periods.

6.     To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on court’s capacity, the Judiciary continued to use alternative means of disposal (such as paper disposals and remote hearings) particularly for civil proceedings, as appropriate.

7.     The Judiciary continued to accord priority and devote extra efforts to handling these NS and anti-EAB cases, many of which involve a large number of defendants and lengthy trials. Measures adopted include the engagement of additional judicial manpower, pro-active case management, enhancement of the capacity of courtrooms and provision of additional court facilities, lengthening of daily hearing times and holding Saturday hearings as necessary, as well as greater use of technology (such as e-bundles as well as digital evidence and exhibits handling system) to expedite court hearings. With concerted efforts on different fronts, around 90% of over 2 200 anti EAB cases and around 80% of some 170 NS cases brought to various levels of court were concluded by end-January 2023. The bulk of the outstanding criminal cases are around 130 out of some 360 cases to be handled by the District Court where fresh cases continued to be brought to court in 2022. Of these outstanding cases, the vast majority (108) have already been set down for trials in 2023 and 2024, and the remaining 23 cases will be listed at the earliest possible opportunity once they are ready for trial.

8.     The priority deployment of judges for handling anti-EAB cases which involve longer trials has inevitably lengthened the waiting times for all other criminal cases, particularly at the District Court and the Magistrates’ Courts, as some District Judges and Permanent Magistrates have been appointed as deputy judges for these cases at the higher levels of court. For NS cases which are mainly handled at the High Court, as three judges are usually involved in handling each case which invariably requires long trials, the listing of all other criminal cases (particularly jury trials) have been adversely affected. We will continue to expedite the processing of outstanding criminal cases by increasing judicial manpower through recruitment of permanent Judges and Judicial Officers as well as engagement of deputies as and when necessary.

Leave application for Judicial Review (JR) relating to Non-refoulement claims

9.     From 2016 to 2022, the number of applications to the CFI for leave to apply for JR increased from 228 cases in 2016 to 1 146 cases in 2017, and to over 3 000 cases per year in 2018 and 2019, then reduced to 1 545 cases in 2022. The vast majority (over 90%) of the increase came from cases related to non-refoulement claims. The number of other JR cases has remained stable at an annual average of around 140 cases with no apparent trend of increase. The percentage of leave granted in relation to non-refoulement claims JR cases remains at a very low level. Only 3.9% of these cases disposed as at end January 2023 were approved.

10.     The Judiciary will continue to deploy additional and dedicated manpower resources and streamline processing procedures as far as possible in light of evolving developments, with a view to expediting the processing of the increasing number of cases at Court of Appeal of the High Court and CFI.

Greater Use of Technologies

11.     The Judiciary is committed to making greater use of technology to enhance the efficiency of court business. We have been deploying the required manpower and financial resources on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for implementing various initiatives on an on-going basis. In 2023-24, the estimated recurrent expenditure relating to ICT initiatives is around $270 million which accounts for 11% of the total estimated operating expenditure of the Judiciary. The average annual increase in the past five years is around 20%.

12.     In recent years, the Judiciary launched a number of new initiatives. One key initiative is the development of an integrated Court Case Management System (iCMS) across various court levels by phases for handling court-related documents and payments through an electronic mode as an option to the traditional paper-based system. The iCMS has been implemented in the District Court and the Magistrates’ Courts respectively from May 2022 and December 2022. It now covers personal injuries action, tax claim, civil action, employees’ compensation cases in the District Court, and summons cases in the Magistrates’ Courts. It is our target to roll out the iCMS for public use at other levels of courts incrementally from 2024. As at end-February 2023, a total of 102 court users (including 56 law firms) have registered for accounts under iCMS. About 9 300 new cases have been initiated under iCMS, representing about 14% over the total number of the relevant new cases during the period.

13.     To facilitate a quicker and wider adoption of technology in court operations, the Judiciary aims to ultimately make iCMS the primary litigation system in Hong Kong. We are considering setting a target timeframe, such as a period of three to five years from the rolling out of the relevant parts of the new system, for requiring all represented litigants to conduct their litigations electronically, unless otherwise exempted in particular circumstances. To prepare for requiring mandatory use of iCMS for litigation, we will conduct full consultation with the legal profession and other stakeholders on the implementation arrangements, and put in place safeguards for the right of access to court. We will also continue with our efforts in the promotion and publicity of iCMS with a view to encouraging migration to the electronic mode.

14.     Remote hearings is another major technology initiative. So far, over 1 600 remote hearings (including video-conferencing and phone hearings) have been conducted for civil proceedings since April 2020 and the experience has been positive. The Judiciary is working on the draft Courts (Remote Hearing) Bill (the Remote Hearing Bill) to provide the court with the flexibility to order remote hearings as it sees fit, having regard to all relevant factors, as well as the dual requirements of open justice and fairness. The Remote Hearing Bill seeks to remove legal obstacles to the general application of remote hearings to criminal proceedings and provide express provisions setting out how matters should be handled when a hearing is conducted remotely. We conducted a three-month public consultation on the draft Remote Hearing Bill in June 2022, and aim to introduce the Remote Hearing Bill into the Legislative Council within this year.

15.     Another initiative the Judiciary is actively exploring is live broadcasting of selected judicial proceedings. Open justice is the fundamental principle of maintaining public confidence in our judicial system and upholding the rule of law. Live broadcasting of court proceedings enhances the transparency of court procedures and public confidence in the judicial process. The Judiciary is now examining the guiding principles as well as the implementation practicalities of live broadcasting of court proceedings, with the target to introduce on pilot basis live broadcasting of at least some court proceedings or at some court levels within this year, if practicable.

16.     Lastly, to enhance the efficiency in recording court proceedings and preparation of transcripts, the Judiciary is now testing the voice recognition software products in the market, particularly in respect of accuracy of voice recognition, with a view to making use of this Artificial Intelligence technology for recording court proceedings where appropriate in the longer term.

Family Justice Reforms

17.     The Family Procedure Bill has been introduced into the Legislative Council in March this year. The Family Procedure Bill seeks to legislate for a consolidated set of procedural rules to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the family justice system in taking forward recommendations in the Judiciary's Final Report on the Review of Family Procedure Rules published in May 2015. Subject to passage of the legislation, the Family Procedure Rules Committee will be formed to prepare the draft procedural rules, which will then be put forward for public consultation. Moreover, a new Masters system will be established in the Family Court under which Family Masters will be empowered to handle certain procedural work on family-related proceedings with a view to alleviating the heavy workload of Family Judges. We are working on the preparatory work and will continue to keep legal practitioners, court users and relevant stakeholders abreast of progress.

Conclusion

18.     The Judiciary will make continual efforts in exploring feasible ways and means of enhancing the efficiency of judiciary administration, and providing better quality services to court users and members of the public.

19.     Thank you.