1/ Sharing my recent article in Mingpao, in response to people (especially those in the legal community) who say that legally aided persons don't pay, and thus should have no right to choose their lawyers. 
2/ Legal aid is built into the justice system to address the inequalities inherent in our society. It acts like a capacitor in an electric circuit, to smooth out the fluctuations.
3/ Legally aided persons are those who lose out in the system, because of the way the system is built and sustained. They don't pay not because they don't want to, but because they can't.
4/ Legal aid is functioned by resources the society pulls together to alleviate the power differences. The money belongs to the society, to be used for the people.
5/ To say "no money, no choice", as if legal aid were just an act of mercy clearly disregards this bigger picture. To this I say: Allowing legally aided persons to choose their own lawyers is a human right, is an entitlement. #HongKong #HK #humanrights #legalaid [END]
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