常見問題(只備英文版本)及聯絡我們

1.

Who is subject to the CPD Scheme?

All solicitors with practising certificates and all trainee solicitors are subject to the CPD Scheme.

Registered foreign lawyers are not subject to the CPD Scheme.

2.

How many hours of CPD activities are solicitors and trainee solicitors required to acquire in a CPD year?

A solicitor and a trainee solicitor must accumulate 15 CPD points in each CPD practice year.

Where a solicitor whose practising certificate commences after 1 January, his annual CPD requirement will be determined on a pro-rata basis in accordance with Table B on page 6 of the CPD Information Package.

A trainee solicitor must accumulate 30 CPD points by the end of his or her period of employment as a trainee solicitor and on a pro-rata basis in accordance with Table A or Table A1 as the case may be on pages 4 and 5 of the CPD Information Package.

3.

When does the CPD year start and end?

A CPD year commences on 1 November and ends on 31 October the following year.

4.

What types of activities qualify for CPD points?

Apart from attending face-to-face courses, practitioners may claim CPD points for other CPD activities such as undertaking distance learning courses, writing articles, books or dissertations, conducting legal researches, preparing and presenting approved training courses, participating in approved committees or working parties, and undertaking work as a judge in a moot court competition, etc.

Please refer to the section "Ways in which the CPD requirement may be met" on pages 8 to 40 of the CPD Information Package for details.

5.

Can CPD points be carried over to the following CPD year?

For CPD practice years from 2006/07 onwards, practitioners will normally be permitted to carry over a maximum of 10 CPD points accumulated in excess of the requirement in one CPD practice year to the next immediately succeeding CPD practice year only.

Please click here for some examples on carrying over of CPD points.

6.

Can trainee solicitors accrue CPD points prior to admission?

Solicitors can receive a credit for the CPD points accumulated between the time of lodging a current application for admission (Form 4 or Form 1C) with the Society and within 3 months after the date of admission provided that the details of the activities undertaken have been entered in the training record.

CPD points obtained after the expiry of 3 months after the date of admission and before the commencement date of the first practising certificate of a solicitor will not be counted towards satisfaction of the solicitor's CPD requirement.

1.

What happens regarding CPD requirements if a solicitor is not in practice for a period of time?

Solicitors and trainee solicitors may apply for a suspension from CPD requirements pursuant to rule 9 of the CPD Rules if they are not in practice as a solicitor or not in employment as a trainee solicitors in Hong Kong for a continuous period not shorter than 70 days.

Solicitors may apply for a suspension from their CPD requirements on the following grounds:

Trainee solicitors may apply for a suspension from their CPD requirements on the following grounds:

2.

How can solicitors or trainee solicitors apply for a CPD suspension?

There is no prescribed application form for CPD suspension.

Applications must be made in writing to the Assistant Director, Professional Development of the Society with the following information:

The Society may require the applicant to make a statutory declaration in support of his application for a CPD suspension.

3.

What are the CPD requirements for solicitor or trainee solicitors who are granted a suspension from CPD requirement?

The annual CPD requirement of solicitors and trainee solicitors up to the date of suspension will be deducted on a pro-rata basis according to Table C or Table D as the case may be on page 46 of the CPD Information Package. The CPD point requirement up to the date of the CPD suspension will be added together with a pro-rata of the annual CPD points that he will be required from the date of return to practice or employment to the end of the CPD practice year in accordance with Table E on page 47 of the CPD Information Package.

A practitioner who has not undertaken all of his or her CPD requirement in the CPD practice year in which the suspension took effect must make up any shortfall on return to work.

Please click here for examples of calculation of CPD points requirement for solicitors or trainee solicitors who are granted a CPD suspension.

4.

Are there any exemptions from the operation of CPD scheme?

Upon an application being made to the Law Society, a solicitor may apply for an exemption from the CPD requirements under rule 8 of the CPD Rules if he meets all of the following criteria:

Applications for exemptions from the operation of the CPD Scheme will be considered by the CPD Committee on a case-by-case basis only where exceptional circumstances exist. 

1.

How is CPD point claimed?

Solicitors and trainee solicitors can only claim CPD points for their attendance at courses or their participation in activities that are accredited by the Society.

All solicitors and trainee solicitors subject to the CPD Scheme are required to maintain their own record of their training activities with sufficient details for verification by the Society in the event of audit.

Please click here for a recommended form of CPD Training Record.

Attendance at courses

For attendance at courses (except for overseas courses under Guideline 6, distance learning courses under Guideline 8 and law courses under Guideline 9), solicitors and trainee solicitors are required to enter all relevant information such as date and title of courses, name of course providers and the number of CPD points awarded, etc. into their CPD Training Record. It is unnecessary for them to write to the Society to claim CPD points.

Overseas Courses (Guideline 6)

Applications for accreditation can be made by the overseas provider, or where the overseas provider will not apply for accreditation, by a Hong Kong practitioner, before the date of the course with a payment of a requisite accreditation fee.

Where the Society is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist, a retrospective application for accreditation being made by a practitioner (but not a course provider) may be considered by the Society provided the applicant pays a late accreditation fee and submit an application to the Society not later than 30 days after the overseas course has been conducted.

Practitioners claiming CPD points for their attendance at an approved overseas course must file with the Society a written confirmation that he attended the entire course or, where be attended part of the course, a written confirmation setting out which parts / sessions of the courses be attended.

Computer-based Courses (Guideline 7)

Practitioners claiming CPD points for attendance at a computer-based course must produce to the Society a printed copy of a completion certificate as supporting evidence in the event of a CPD audit.

Distance Learning Courses (Guideline 8) and Law Courses (Guideline 9)

Practitioners may claim up to 15 CPD points in each CPD practice year for undertaking law courses and distance learning courses. A certificate of attendance issued by the university or the course provider confirming the number of hours of attendance at the courses should be submitted to the Society for claiming CPD points.

Practitioners claiming CPD points for their examination result or written assignment of distance learning courses are required to submit the relevant documents as evidence to the Society.

Please click here for a list of approved distance learning courses.

Please click here for a list of approved law courses.

Preparation, presentation and facilitation of approved training courses (Guideline 14)

Practitioners may do their own calculation of CPD points in accordance with guideline 14 in the section of "Ways in which the CPD requirement may be met" on pages 16 of 17 of the CPD Information Package.

Please click here for examples of calculation of CPD points for presenting and preparing for approved training courses.

Participation in committees/working parties/associations/Legislative Council (Guideline 15)

Practitioners may claim a maximum of 7 CPD points in a CPD year for their participation in the approved committees, working parties or associations. 1 CPD point may be claimed for each hour of such work.

For the Society's committees or working parties, it is unnecessary for practitioners to write to the Society for claiming CPD points for their work. They are only required to enter into the CPD Training Record the relevant information, e.g. the name of the committees or working parties in which they participated and the number of hours of work they spent, etc.

For the approved committees, working parties or associations of other organisations, practitioners are required to submit a confirmation letter issued by the respective committee's secretary confirming the time they spent on such work.

Please click here for a list of approved committees, working parties and associations.

Work as an external examiner/assessors and participation as a judge in a moot court competition (Guideline 16)

Practitioners may claim a maximum of 7 CPD points in a CPD year for their participation in such activities. 1 CPD point may be claimed for each period of 2 hours engaged in such work. Practitioners must retain contemporaneous records in relation to the work undertaken as evidence in support of the number of CPD points claimed.

Participation in Duty Lawyer Scheme (Guideline 17)

2 CPD points may be claimed for each completed Duty Lawyer Scheme orientation. Practitioners are required to produce a confirmation from the Duty Lawyer Service to the Society as evidence verifying their completion of the orientation.

Coaching (Guideline 22)

Up to 5 CPD points of the annual CPD requirement may be claimed for participation in coaching sessions that qualify for CPD points in accordance with Guideline 22.

A written record of the objective, the content outline and the outcomes of each coaching session and the date, the start and finish time, and the venue of the coaching session must be retained by the coach and the practitioners being coached for verification by the Society of the CPD points claimed.

2.

How long should the CPD Training Record be kept?

With the implementation of an honour-based CPD Scheme on 1 November 2008, the Society does not keep records of individual practitioners' attendance at courses. All practitioners must keep their own training record for 2 CPD practice year and, where records involved CPD points from previous CPD years, for those previous years.

1.

What are the consequences for failure to comply with CPD requirements?

Under section 6(5)(d) of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance, the Council has the power to refuse to issue a practising certificate to an applicant who has not complied with the CPD Rules, or to suspend or cancel the practising certificate of a solicitor who has not done so.

For those solicitors who had not acquired the necessary CPD points by 31 October, their applications for renewal of practising certificates will be processed in the usual way provided that they made up the outstanding CPD points by 15 December. Their failure to acquire the necessary CPD points by the end of the CPD practice year will be referred to the Conduct Section for investigation.

In the absence of acceptable mitigating factors, the Council may refuse to issue a practising certificates to solicitors who had not acquired the necessary CPD points by 31 October and failed to make up the default by the statutory deadline of 15 December.

1.

How can a course be awarded with CPD points?

2.

Can application for accreditation be made after the course has been conducted?

1.

Where can information about accredited CPD courses be found?

A list of courses to be provided by the Law Society and the Hong Kong Academy of Law is posted on their websites (www.hklawacademy.org).

For other accredited courses, please contact the respective course providers directly.

2.

Can enrolment of a CPD course be transferred to a replacement delegate or to another CPD course?

In general, a booking of CPD course can be transferred to a replacement delegate or to another CPD course if it is a paid course.

Transfer of booking of free CPD courses is not allowed.

Please refer to the respective course flyer for details of the enrolment conditions.

3.

Can solicitors or trainee solicitors be entitled to CPD points if they are late for CPD courses?

With effect from 1 November 2008, a practitioner should not claim any CPD points if he is absent (excluding scheduled breaks) for more than 10 minutes for a course of less than 3 hours or for more than 30 minutes for a course of 3 hours or more in duration.