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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Donald Tsang, in the Legislative Council today (March 6):

Question:

It is learnt that this year's waiting time for Labour Tribunal cases, as measured from the date of appointment to the date of filing and from the date of filing to the date of hearing, is projected to increase by about 30% to 82% when compared with that in the previous two years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the average number of cases dealt with by each day court and night court of the Tribunal in the past two years;

(b) whether it has estimated the number of cases to be dealt with by the Tribunal this year; if so, of the growth in such number as compared to those in each of the past two years; and

(c) whether it has planned to introduce measures, including the provision of more night courts, to shorten the waiting time for the Tribunal cases; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

We have consulted the Judiciary on the question and have received the following response: -

The Judiciary's performance targets in terms of waiting times for the Labour Tribunal are as follows :

                            Waiting Time (Days)

                            --------------------------

                            2000      2001     2002

                 Targets   (Actual)  (Actual)  (Planned)

  From appointment    30       11       14       20

  to filing of

  a case 

  From filing         30       21       23       30

  of a case to 

  first hearing

In the past two years, the Labour Tribunal was able to achieve actual waiting times way below the targets. In 2002, the Labour Tribunal would continue to strive to keep the waiting times as short as possible, and in any case, within the targets set.

Answers to the specific questions are as follows :

(a) In the past two years, the average numbers of cases handled by each day court and each night court were :

                     2000       2001

                     ------     ------

  Day court           705        782

  Night court         385        319

The night courts would normally handle cases with less complexity on facts and law, those with a smaller number of parties per case and those requiring no interpretation.

(b) The Labour Tribunal dealt with 9,611 cases in 2000 and 10,450 cases in 2001. The Judiciary estimates that the number of cases for 2002 would remain at the 2001 level. That notwithstanding, the Judiciary envisages that the proportion of cases with more complexity and with more number of parties per case will be on the rise. The Judiciary has therefore adjusted upward the planned waiting time for 2002.

(c) The Labour Tribunal keeps its caseload and the average waiting times from filing to trial under close monitoring. Although the average waiting times have been within targets, the Labour Tribunal replaced one night court by a day court in October 2001, with a view to increasing the capacity of the courts to deal with trials and respond to the increased number of more complex cases, such as claims for compensation under section 32P of the Employment Ordinance (Chapter 57), and larger group cases. As explained under part (a), such cases are not suitable for night courts. The Judiciary will continue to monitor the situation.

End/Wednesday, March 6, 2002

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