A surge in fraud, money laundering and other financial crime cases has pushed the average wait for a criminal trial in Hong Kong close to a year, prompting lawyers to call for courts to sit into the evening and for additional judges to be appointed.
Hong Kong's judiciary said in a recent submission to the Legislative Council panel on administration of justice and legal services that delays in criminal trials could drag on because of the rise in fraud and money laundering cases, the South China Morning Post reported on the 27th.
Courts took in about 537,000 cases last year, roughly 4% more than the annual average over the past five years, according to the judiciary's data.
The backlog was most pronounced in criminal cases. As of July this year, the average wait for a criminal trial at the High Court stood at 358 days. At the District Court, criminal cases took an average of 354 days to come to trial.
"The waiting time at the District Court is about 3.5 times the target set by the judiciary," the SCMP said, adding that this means Hong Kong's courts are struggling to handle a rapidly growing volume of criminal cases on time.
The main driver of the backlog is the increase in litigation tied to financial crime such as fraud and money laundering. The judiciary said the caseload burden has grown sharply, particularly at the District Court, deepening the problem of trial delays.
In response, the Hong Kong Bar Association proposed extending the courts' existing operating hours into the evening. The idea is to hold additional hearings outside regular trial hours, making more efficient use of limited courtroom facilities and speeding up cases that have been waiting for long periods. Lawyers also suggested expanding judicial manpower, including by appointing more judges, to strengthen the judiciary's capacity to process cases.
The judiciary is concerned that criminal trial delays may be difficult to resolve in the short term if the rise in cases continues.
The SCMP said it has not yet been decided whether night sittings and additional judicial appointments will actually be introduced, or when and how they would operate, adding that calls are growing in Hong Kong to overhaul how courts operate and expand judicial staffing to clear the backlog caused by the increase in financial crime cases.