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Saturday, Feb 22, 2025
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CE won’t explain rejecting overseas lawyers from NSL trials: justice chief Paul Lam
Hong Kong’s chief executive needs not to explain the reasons behind turning down an overseas lawyer from participating in a national security trial, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said.
In a TV interview aired on Saturday, Lam said overseas lawyers taking part in a national security trial shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
The controversy could be dated back to jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying being granted approval by the Court of Final Appeal to hire British lawyer Tim Owen KC to defend him in an upcoming national security trial, which later led to Beijing’s law interpretation.
The SAR government also aims to amend the Legal Practitioners Ordinance in the first half of 2023 so that overseas lawyers can only defend their clients in national security trials after obtaining a certificate from city leader John Lee Ka-chiu.
Lam continued that overseas lawyers will have to decide on what documents to submit to the government on their own, and it is possible that the chief executive may ask them to hand over extra information.
He stressed that amending the ordinance can provide a pathway and relevant procedures for overseas lawyers to come to Hong Kong; thus, it is already an exception.
Lam also noted that national security affairs are sensitive, and a public discussion on the matter may endanger national security. Therefore, the chief executive will not explain the reasons behind turning down the application for a certificate.
The overseas lawyer must consider if they have more available information to convince the chief executive.
Lam also said authorities do not have any plan to refer the application procedures to the allegiance pledge method, and there won’t be any positive-negative list for lawyers’ reference.
On another note, Lam spoke of the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law and described it as “a debt that must be settled.”
Although authorities have been conducting studies and research, it takes time to consider the SAR’s actual circumstances in order to strike a balance between national security and rights and freedoms.
Lam also pointed to the city’s enhanced level of national security education and was confident that “rational” citizens would understand the importance of the legislative work.
The controversy could be dated back to jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying being granted approval by the Court of Final Appeal to hire British lawyer Tim Owen KC to defend him in an upcoming national security trial, which later led to Beijing’s law interpretation.
The SAR government also aims to amend the Legal Practitioners Ordinance in the first half of 2023 so that overseas lawyers can only defend their clients in national security trials after obtaining a certificate from city leader John Lee Ka-chiu.
Lam continued that overseas lawyers will have to decide on what documents to submit to the government on their own, and it is possible that the chief executive may ask them to hand over extra information.
He stressed that amending the ordinance can provide a pathway and relevant procedures for overseas lawyers to come to Hong Kong; thus, it is already an exception.
Lam also noted that national security affairs are sensitive, and a public discussion on the matter may endanger national security. Therefore, the chief executive will not explain the reasons behind turning down the application for a certificate.
The overseas lawyer must consider if they have more available information to convince the chief executive.
Lam also said authorities do not have any plan to refer the application procedures to the allegiance pledge method, and there won’t be any positive-negative list for lawyers’ reference.
On another note, Lam spoke of the legislation of Article 23 of the Basic Law and described it as “a debt that must be settled.”
Although authorities have been conducting studies and research, it takes time to consider the SAR’s actual circumstances in order to strike a balance between national security and rights and freedoms.
Lam also pointed to the city’s enhanced level of national security education and was confident that “rational” citizens would understand the importance of the legislative work.
