A total of 455 legal professionals as well as nine law firms and barristers' chambers were presented with awards today for providing legal services to the community under the 2023-24 Recognition Scheme for Provision of Pro Bono Legal Services (Recognition Scheme).

Apart from expressing gratitude to the awardees, Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki said that he was delighted to see an increasing number of legal professionals volunteering their pro bono services.

The Government has provided a subvention for the Duty Lawyer Service to run the Free Legal Advice Scheme (FLAS) at nine district offices of the Home Affairs Department with the aim of engaging volunteer lawyers to provide free legal advice.

Furthermore, nearly 7,200 cases were handled in 2024 by 1,500 pro bono lawyers who participated in the FLAS.

Moreover, the Administration Wing has implemented the Legal Advice Scheme for Unrepresented Litigants on Civil Procedures to enable both resident lawyers and volunteer lawyers to provide free legal advice on legal procedures.

In addition to the aforesaid schemes and services, the Free Legal Advice Service on Building Management and Free Outreach Legal Advice Service on Building Management run by the department in collaboration with the Law Society of Hong Kong, as well as the Free Legal Helpline and Free Legal Consultation Service run by the Law Society of Hong Kong are also recognised by the Recognition Scheme.

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