4. Do I need to pay anything for Legal Aid service for criminal cases?

It depends on the amount of your financial resources assessed by the Director of Legal Aid.

If your financial resources assessed by the Director of Legal Aid do not exceed $20,000, you do not need to pay any fee for obtaining Legal Aid. The financial resources of an applicant who is receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance will normally be considered as NOT exceeding $20,000 (unless there is any evidence to the contrary).

If your financial resources assessed by the Director of Legal Aid are between $20,001 and $162,300, you will have to pay a contribution ranging from $1,000 to $40,575 upon acceptance of Legal Aid.

If your financial resources assessed by the Director of Legal Aid exceed $162,300, normally you will be refused Legal Aid. But if the Director of Legal Aid exercises his discretion to grant Legal Aid even though your financial resources exceed the statutory limit of $162,300, the contribution that you have to pay will range from 30% to 67% of your assessed financial resources.

Scale of Contribution