The public's level of frustration with the government is far higher than can be gauged from everyday courtroom scenes, statistics from the Legal Aid Department show.
The number of applications for legal aid for judicial reviews increased from 138 in the 2002-03 financial year to 212 in 2006-07. However, as many as 110 to 150 applications were turned down each year.
For last year, the department said a total of 234 applications for aid had been lodged. But only 99 of them were approved, after the department assessed their merits.
In recent years, about 140 judicial reviews were filed with the High Court each year. This figure could have been higher, if the unsuccessful legal aid applicants had found alternative means to foot their legal bills.
Judicial review refers to the power of the court to review the legality and reasonableness of the decisions of the government and other public bodies.
But cases against the administration always take up the largest portion of the judicial reviews. For example, 100 of the 150 judicial reviews in 2004, 130 of the 155 reviews in 2005 and 128 of the 132 reviews in 2006, involved the government, statistics from the Department of Justice show.
The trend has prompted many legal experts and politicians to criticise a Court of Final Appeal decision in November to raise the bar for seeking leave for judicial reviews. In future, the court ruled that cases have to be 'arguable', not just 'potentially arguable', in order to obtain leave for judicial reviews.
