Voice

Suppose a government department makes a decision affecting your interest, and you think that the decision is unreasonable or unfair. What can you do?

There are two main ways of seeking redress. One is to go to the courts and seek a judicial review of the decision. A court can review the decision and say whether the decision was unlawful or had been taken in an unfair manner. The court cannot, however, rule on the merits of the decision and so a successful judicial review will not necessarily mean that the decision will be eventually reversed in your favour. The subject of judicial review is dealt with on another tape.

The more common way of obtaining redress is to complain. The purpose of this tape is to identify the ways in which you may make effective complaints.

The first person to complain to is the decision-maker. Tell him your grievance and ask whether the decision is final. If he says that it is ask whether you have a right of appeal. Some decisions made by government departments can be appealed to the Administrative Appeals Board. This body is chaired by a judge but is not a court of law. Its hearings are quite informal and there is no need to use a lawyer if you do not wish to. It can reverse administrative decisions and so give you the result you want.

Sometimes the appeal is to a specialist board or tribunal. These are not courts of law. Their hearings can be quite informal too and they can also reverse decisions.

If the decision-maker won't change his mind and there is no right of appeal you could consider making a complaint to the Ombudsman. His job is not so much to help people with complaints against Government but to investigate maladministration within the Government and other public bodies. Unlawful or unfair decisions are usually considered to be types of maladministration so his investigation into a case may result in the decision-maker having to make the decision again.

You can also complain to people who have no official responsibilities as regards Government but who, because of their position, may be able to help. An obvious person to complain to is your Legco member (or members if you have more than one vote). They can be quite effective in getting government departments to look again at individual cases. So too can District Board members.

Another way of drawing attention to your case is to write to a newspaper or telephone a radio station. Government departments want to keep a good public image so if your case becomes a talking point it in the media the department concerned will probably respond.

If the decision you are unhappy with is not merely unfair but, you think, influenced by corruption then you should consider making a complaint to the ICAC which has a special responsibility for investigating and exposing corruption in Government and public bodies.

Finally, you can always petition the Chief Executive. However, in most cases the Chief Executive will refer the matter to the Government Department involved so it may not be a wholly satisfactory way of ventilating a grievance if the Government Department thinks it is in the right and you are wrong. Sometimes though, decisions are reversed or varied as a consequence of writing to the Chief Executive.

Date of amendment: 22nd February 2013