Legislator candidates pledge legal support to fire-hit families

Lawyers can play a crucial role in providing professional services to residents affected by the deadly Tai Po blaze, such as helping them to understand their legal rights and advising them on ways to expedite compensation claims, said the Legislative Council election's legal sector candidates at the election forum on Thursday afternoon.

The legal constituency session, held on the last day of the forums, featured two candidates — Virginia Lee Wing-cheung and Nicholas Chan Hiu-fung. The LegCo election, which will return a total of 90 lawmakers, will be held on Sunday, with voting set to take place between 7:30 am and 11:30 pm.

The resumed election forums — which had been suspended for about a week following the fire — required candidates to address post-disaster support. Lee therefore stressed the need to help those affected by the fire understand their legal rights, including their labor rights, as well as to deal with tenancy disputes, insurance claims, and compensation applications.

She also suggested establishing a transparent construction supervision database to allow the public to assess practitioners' professional records, which would encourage them to improve their self-discipline, she said.

Lee's competitor, Chan, suggested providing legal services and delivering accurate and practical information efficiently to residents through AI chatbots.

Chan also advocated for creating a "maintenance office" to classify buildings and estates by risk level and establish an interdepartmental government task force to conduct inspections at high-risk buildings.

On broader legal sector issues, Lee proposed establishing a transparent price framework to deter bad actors, and called for increased government investment. Chan said he will promote reform and explore new markets, such as AI and the low-attitude economy, and pledged to unite sector forces to optimize the market environment.