Director for Legal Aid Chan Chak-ming said the department's application forms and procedures had been simplified and streamlined to enable smoother and quicker processing for flat owners and tenants of the fire disaster at Wang Fuk Court back in November.

Speaking on RTHK's Backchat programme on Monday, he said the department had put in place a number of special measures such as service hotlines and advisory booths to enable residents to apply for legal aid.

The department, Chan said, has received more than 400 applications for legal aid so far and offers have already been made to some of the applicants.

He pointed out that a probate application was not usually eligible for legal aid as they were considered non-contentious, specialised matters, but due to the complexity of the Wang Fuk Court cases, legal aid would be granted to ensure fire victims get their probates in time.

"If we can help with the process, then we are more than happy to grant legal aid to enable the applicants to get their probate in time," Chan said.

"It's very important to get the probate first before you do anything about the ownership, transferring ownership of the flats."

Chan noted that legal aid was available to everyone in Hong Kong regardless of their residency status, as long as they passed the means test and merits test.

A means tests sees an applicant's financial resources assessed to ensure he or she cannot afford private legal services, while the merits test evaluates whether a case has sufficient legal grounds to justify public funding.

Chan added the Legal Aid Department had its work cut out getting hold of key documents for the applicants as some might have lost them in the fire.


Edited by Tony Sabine