The Legal Aid Department (LAD) today announced that it has established a dedicated task force to implement support measures to assist individuals affected by the fire at Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, in applying for legal aid in accordance with statutory requirements.

The legal aid aims to handle litigation and related matters about personal injury claims, property damage claims and employees’ compensation claims, the department explained.

Specifically, the LAD has co-ordinated with the Social Welfare Department to leverage the “one social worker per household” service to disseminate information on legal aid, such as details on the scope of the legal aid, application procedures and eligibility criteria.

In addition, the LAD has established telephone hotlines (2867 4516 or 2399 2277) to address enquiries from the affected citizens about legal aid.

To ensure that the affected citizens can obtain legal aid as soon as possible, the LAD will streamline the application procedures and deploy staff to expedite the processing of applications.

Furthermore, seminars will be held to elaborate on legal aid application matters. Staff will offer assistance on site.

Separately, taking into account the burden and needs of the affected citizens, the LAD will arrange legal representatives to handle their litigation upon approval of their legal aid applications.

In this regard, the LAD reminds the prospective applicants not to arrange their own legal representation, and not give instructions or sign authorisation documents for legal services, in order to avoid incurring unnecessary costs and safeguard their own interests.