Replies to written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2005-06

Controlling Officer : Judiciary Administrator

Session No. : 12

Reply Serial No.	Question Serial No.	Name of Member	Head	Programme
JA001	0501	LI Fung-ying	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA002	0502	LI Fung-ying	80	Courts and Tribunals Support Services for Courts’ Operation
JA003	0741	NG Margaret	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA004	0800	LEE Chu-ming, Martin	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA005	0801	LEE Chu-ming, Martin	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA006	0802	LEE Chu-ming, Martin	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA007	0803	LEE Chu-ming, Martin	80	Support Services for Courts’ Operation
JA008	1165	KWONG Chi-kin	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA009	1166	KWONG Chi-kin	80	Courts and Tribunals Support Services for Courts’ Operation
JA010	1405	KWONG Chi-kin	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA011	1410	KWONG Chi-kin	80	Courts and Tribunals Support Services for Courts’ Operation
JA012	1847	HO Chun-yan, Albert	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA013	1848	HO Chun-yan, Albert	80	Courts and Tribunals
JA014	1849	HO Chun-yan, Albert	80	Courts and Tribunals

Replies to written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2005-06

Controlling Officer : Judiciary Administrator

Session No. : 12 File name : S-JA-e1.rtf

Reply Serial No.	Question Serial No.	Name of Member	Head	Programme
S-JA01	SV22	Audrey EU	80	Courts and Tribunals
S-JA02	S023	HO Chun-yan, Albert	80	Courts and Tribunals
S-JA03	S057	KWONG Chi-kin	80	Courts and Tribunals
S-JA04	S058	KWONG Chi-kin	80	Courts and Tribunals

		Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2005-06		Reply Serial No.
		CONTROLLING OFFICER’S REPLY TO INITIAL WRITTEN QUESTION		JA001
				Question Serial No.
				0501
Head: 80 Judiciary			Subhead (No. & title):
Programme:	(1) Courts and Tribunals
Controlling Officer:	Judiciary Administrator
Director of Bureau:	Judiciary Administrator

Question: With regard to the average waiting time (days) of Labour Tribunal, be it from appointment to filing of a case or from filing of a case to first hearing, the actual waiting times in both 2003 and 2004 are shorter than the target waiting time of 30 days. Given the said actual waiting times being well within the targets, will the Judiciary set a shorter target waiting time in these two areas? If not, what is the reason?

Asked by: Hon. LI Fung-ying

Reply:

Although the economy has improved, the caseload of the Labour Tribunal is expected to stay at a relatively high level. It is prudent to keep the planned waiting time in 2005 at 30 days from appointment booking to filing of claim. The Labour Tribunal will, however, strive to achieve an actual waiting as short as possible as in previous years.

The planned waiting time of 30 days from filing of claim to first hearing is set pursuant to section 13(1)(a) of the Labour Tribunal Ordinance (Cap. 25) which provides that a claim must be listed for a first hearing on a date not earlier than 10 days and not later than 30 days from filing of the claim unless the parties agree otherwise. The actual waiting time achieved in the past few years was about 24 to 25 days. The planned waiting time of 30 days is thus reasonable and realistic.

Signature
Name in block letters	Wilfred Tsui
Post Title	Judiciary Administrator
Date	8.4.2005

		Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2005-06		Reply Serial No.
		CONTROLLING OFFICER’S REPLY TO INITIAL WRITTEN QUESTION		JA002
				Question Serial No.
				0502
Head: 80 Judiciary			Subhead (No. & title):
Programme:	(1) Courts and Tribunals (2) Support Services for Courts’ Operation
Controlling Officer:	Judiciary Administrator
Director of Bureau:	Judiciary Administrator

Question: It is estimated that 49 posts will be deleted in 2005-06. Please inform this Council:

1. What are the posts, ranks, years of service and terms of appointment of the staff involved, and in what way will these posts be deleted?

2. Will the deletion of these posts involve reduction of staff in the Labour Tribunal? If so, how many staff members will be reduced and what posts will be involved?

3. Will there be any impact on the operation of the Labour Tribunal when these posts are deleted? If so, please give the details and what measures will be taken to minimize the impact?

Asked by: Hon. LI Fung-ying

Reply:

1. The 49 posts intended for deletion in 2005-06 are all vacant permanent posts. No serving staff will be affected. The posts are –

Rank	No. of Posts
Executive Officer II	3
Clerical Officer	1
Assistant Clerical Officer	12
Clerical Assistant	1
Office Assistant	13
Personal Secretary I	1
Typist	5
Librarian	1
Senior Radio Mechanic	1
Assistant Chief Bailiff	1
Head Property Attendant	1
Property Attendant	8
Workman II	1
Total	49

2.&3. There is no reduction of posts in the Labour Tribunal and hence there is no impact on its operation.

Signature
Name in block letters	Wilfred Tsui
Post Title	Judiciary Administrator
Date	8.4.2005

		Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2005-06		Reply Serial No.
		CONTROLLING OFFICER’S REPLY TO INITIAL WRITTEN QUESTION		JA003
				Question Serial No.
				0741
Head: 80 Judiciary			Subhead (No. & title):
Programme:	(1) Courts and Tribunals
Controlling Officer:	Judiciary Administrator
Director of Bureau:	Judiciary Administrator