簡介
Listen to #Hashtag Hong Kong every Sunday morning at 8.15
Focussing on issues affecting civil society, we'll hear from representatives of NGOs, associations, statutory bodies, and non-profit groups.
(Sundays 8.15am - 8.25am)
最新
Kay McARDLE, Director & Founding Member of Equal Justice
As most will know, the law can be complicated, confusing and costly. In Hong Kong, 1.394 million people live at or below the poverty line and that population cannot afford to pay private lawyers’ fees.
We know from the Department of Justice’s 2008 consultancy study on the “Demand for and Supply of Legal and Related Services” that 79% of people in Hong Kong did not know what to do when faced with a legal problem and that 40% of respondents for that survey had a legal problem. Using these numbers, we estimate that the pool of disadvantaged people with a legal problem is 550,000, or thereabouts, and, of those, some 440,000 do not know where to go for help.
And so the fact is that, for HK’s poorest people, the most disadvantaged people, there is a legal access gap. The people we serve are underprivileged and are often also very vulnerable. Typical legal problems include things like family matters, employment and discrimination, education, housing, immigration, criminal matters and sometimes, personal injury, healthcare, probate and of course increasingly online scams.
They extraordinary people face significant disadvantages due to a confluence of factors: the complexity of the legal system, a lack of financial resources and education, cultural and gender access to justice barriers as well as an absence of legal and digital literacy. Language barriers can actually be a major barrier. Limited financial resources restrict people’s access to private legal representation. Lack of education and awareness about their rights further exacerbates the issue they face, making them vulnerable to exploitation and unfair treatment. There are also some systemic biases within the legal system can also disproportionately affect marginalised communities.
The government services and clinics may not always provide interpreters to non-Cantonese or non-English-speaking people, which can really complicate access to information, advice and/or representation. There are also Cultural stigmas around legal action, particularly in family or employment disputes, which can make individuals not seek help early enough, which means there is an over reliance on informal networks rather than the formal legal channels. And all these mean that even if the legal problem is settled for now, the outcome is not legally enforceable and it means thee can be even more problems further down the line. Overcoming these barriers requires comprehensive legal aid, community outreach, and also we would hope for some systemic reforms to ensure equal access to justice.
Hong Kong has limited publicly funded community legal information and advice centres. While the Department of Justice, the legal professional bodies, the Duty Lawyer Service and the Legal Aid Department provide some support, this does not cover all cases. In fact, it also only addresses cases once a person is able to identified and not everyone knows that the problem they have has a legal solution, let alone being able to name it and even to work out what to do about it.
Equal Justice fills this initial void by offering assistance in the early problem identification phases, helping with settlement to avoid stressful and costly court proceedings, linking disadvantaged people to lawyers and helping them throughout their case journey so they are supported, can understand what is going on and can navigate the system well enough to make informed decisions. And why? To ensure that they avoid any further hardship and specifically poverty.
We provide legal first aid - to disadvantaged people - who cannot afford or otherwise access the law and legal support. We empower people and communities with legal education, information, and support, to ensure that justice isn’t just a privilege for the wealthy and well-connected. We give free, face-to-face, tailored legal information and support, and and also refer cases to lawyers and counsellors. So far, we have worked on 3,000 cases, and we’re just 5 years old. Ad the people we help are 50% women, 30% children and 20% men.
When it comes to generalised legal support for Hong Kong’s disadvantaged population, organisations like Equal Justice and university clinics rely heavily on pro bono lawyers. But, demand often outstrips supply, especially for time-intensive cases like child abuse or neglect, intimate partner violence, discrimination and family disputes.
We have partnerships with 100+ amazing law firms and 54+ charities are robust but may not be able to scale given the widespread needs that we are already experienced. And our caseload has increased ~40% each year for the last 3 years, which is quite significant.
In March 2025, rather wonderfully, the HK Bar Association announced that they will be partnering with Equal Justice and 3 other NGOs more closely to bridge the community legal access gap. This is a very welcome endorsement.
重溫
Jason Fan, Secretary General of the Hong Kong E-Vehicles Business General Association
Good morning. The Hong Kong E-Vehicles Business General Association (“HKEVA”) was established in 2017. “Promoting innovation, nurturing support and professional colleagues” has become our goal. We comprise of a group of elites from the automotive industry, power supply and distribution service providers. In addition, various universities professors and academics are also invited to be our advisory team. We strive to establish a solid platform for discussion as well as providing information and advice to facilitate the building of SMART CITY BLUEPRINT particularly in Smart Mobility with Green environment for better using and running of green vehicle technologies in Hong Kong.
Up to August 2024, there are over 98,000 electric vehicles registered in Hong Kong. It is a noticeable increase in the usage of electric vehicles, especially among private cars. However, comparing with the traditional fossil fuel vehicles, electric vehicles only account for around 10% of the total registered vehicles in Hong Kong.
The “One-for-One Replacement” scheme and the tax concession from the Transport Department are effective measures to move Hong Kong people to switch to electric vehicles. Back in 2018 when the schemes started, there were only around 10,000 electric vehicles in Hong Kong. Therefore, HKEVA would like the Government to continue the “One-for-One Replacement” scheme. The overall electric vehicle penetration rate in Hong Kong is still low at around 10%.
Transportation sector is the second largest carbon emission source in Hong Kong, just behind electricity generation. It accounts for around 18% of carbon emission in Hong Kong. Using electric vehicles can significantly reduce the roadside emission. Therefore, adoption of electric vehicles plays an important part in the carbon neutral policy of the Government.
Another benefit of using electric vehicles other than zero roadside emission is that electric vehicle is efficient. With the relatively low electricity cost in Hong Kong, drivers can enjoy lower fuel cost. In terms of maintenance, with fewer moving parts in the electric vehicles, for example, no gearbox, the maintenance cost for electric vehicle is relatively lower too.
However, charging electric vehicles remains the biggest concern for drivers to switch to electric vehicles as we only have around 9,000 public chargers in Hong Kong. Therefore, it is clear that there is NOT enough public chargers in the city.
For the future electric vehicle development in Hong Kong, HKEVA would like to suggest the following to the Government.
1. Continue the One-for-One Replacement and tax concession schemes. We suggest the Government to relax the requirements on Ownership and Licensed Periods for “Old Private Car” in the scheme so that drivers can join the scheme more easily. Although we recorded significant increase in the number of electric vehicles in private car, the conversation of commercial vehicles to electric remains slow. Commercial vehicles include light goods vehicles, taxis, mini-buses and buses etc... The usage for commercial vehicles is high but there are not enough models in the market for the drivers to choose. Therefore, more direct financial attractiveness is necessary from the Government to encourage manufacturers to develop and import more electric models for commercial vehicles.
2. Build roadside public charging stations over all 18 districts in Hong Kong. This infrastructure enhancement can help solve the charging concerns from the community. It involves works and approvals from different government authorities. Therefore, we encourage the Government to set up an Inter- departmental Working Group to solve the issues arising from the charging infrastructure development. We understand that there is a similar Working Group on Using Hydrogen as Fuel. We suggested the Government to make use of this Working Group to solve the issues arise from electric vehicles development.
3. Battery is one of the key components in electric vehicles. The manufacturing and disposal of used battery are very controversial topics in encouraging the society to switch to electric vehicle. Therefore, the battery recycling industry is a very important element in the electric vehicle supply chain. HKEVA urges the Government to implement the Producer Responsibility Scheme on Retried Electric Vehicle Batteries as soon as possible. We support the Government to manage retired batteries centrally and locally. We also encourage the Government to setup a battery registration and identity system, record all imported battery. This measure increases the battery traceability and encourage recycling and re-proposing. Especially on re-proposing, it gives “second life” to battery and motivate different industrial and commercial innovative applications.
4. With more and more electric vehicle running on the streets, repair and maintenance support on electric vehicles becomes a concern for drivers to switch to electric vehicles. Therefore, it is important for existing vehicle maintenance mechanics to acquire new knowledge and skills on electric vehicles. On training and education, we encourage the government to put more resources in the newly enhanced Voluntary Registration Scheme for Vehicle Maintenance. Organise more relevant training programs and help existing vehicle maintenance mechanics and workshops to pick up the maintenance and repair works for electric vehicles.
And now I would like to dedicate to all of you a song "獅子山下” by Roman.
