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The following is issued on behalf of the Judiciary:

Chairman of the Working Party on Civil Justice Reform, the Hon. Mr Justice Patrick Chan, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal, today (April 2, 2002) reminded legal professionals, interested parties, organizations and members of the public that the consultation exercise, which commenced in November last year, will end on April 30.

They are therefore urged to give views on the 80 proposals of the Interim Report and Consultative Paper by the end of this month.

Comments and views received will be collated for use and deliberation by the Working Party, which will make its recommendations in a Final Report to be submitted to the Chief Justice.

The 80 proposals for reform of the rules and procedures discussed in the Report to tackle the problems of excessive cost, delay and complexity will benefit represented litigants as well as unrepresented litigants.

"There is no any quick or simple solution. The Report explores a series of possible changes to our rules," Justice Chan said.

"These include re-defining and simplifying procedural obligations, reducing the number of court hearings before trial, encouraging earlier settlement, introducing greater transparency to litigation costs and giving the court more extensive and flexible powers to manage the progress of cases through the system," he added.

During the five-month consultation period, a series of events, such as seminars and workshops were held for more than 600 legal professionals and interested persons. A dedicated website <www.civiljustice.gov.hk> has also been set up to gauge feedback.

The Working Party was appointed by the Chief Justice to review the civil rules and procedures of the High Court. Other members of the Working Party include the Hon. Mr Justice Ribeiro (Deputy Chairman, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal); the Hon. Mr Justice Rogers (Vice-President of the Court of Appeal); the Hon. Mr Justice Seagroatt, the Hon. Mr Justice Hartmann and the Hon. Madam Justice Chu (Judges of the Court of First Instance of the High Court); Deputy Judge Poon; Mr Ambrose Ho S.C. (Barrister); Mr Patrick Swain (Solicitor); Mr Ian Wingfield (Member of the Department of Justice); Mr Shu-ying Chan (Member of the Legal Aid Department); Professor Michael Wilkinson (Professor of Law, University of Hong Kong); and Mrs Pamela Chan (Lay member).

End/Tuesday, April 2, 2002

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