Annual Report 2019 > 7. Staff

7.1 In the year under review the number of staff of the DLS stands at 128 including 5 Officers specifically assigned for the Care or Protection Scheme and 22 Officers specifically assigned for the Legal Assistance Scheme for Non- refoulement Claimants.

7.2 Review of remunerations of senior executives at the top three tiers had been conducted by the Duty Lawyer Service as recommended by the Chief Secretary for Administration’s Office. It was concluded that the average total remuneration of each of the tiers was on par with that of the comparable rank in the civil service.

7.3 A special tribute has to be paid to Mr. Ronnie Sze who joined the Duty Lawyer Service (it was then named Law Society Legal Advice and Duty Lawyer Schemes) in 1983 as a Court Liaison Officer. At that time, there were only 37 staff and 8 Court Liaison Offices. Mr. Sze was promoted to Senior Court Liaison Officer, Assistant Chief Court Liaison Officer and Deputy Chief Court Liaison Officer respectively in 1990, 1995 and 2012. He had contributed greatly to the successful operation and development of this organization. After 35 years of faithful and loyal service in the Duty Lawyer Service, he retired from the Service in September 2018 and formally left the Service in March 2019.