Lawyers get route to work on mainland
Hong Kong lawyers will be eligible to take tests qualifying them to work for state-owned enterprises on the mainland, Solicitor-General Bob Allcock confirmed yesterday.
Speaking at the Basic Law Institute's seminar on the legal landscape in China after accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Mr Allcock said Hong Kong and foreign lawyers could now work as corporate legal consultants or 'in-house' lawyers for state-owned enterprises.
'It is intended that these corporate legal consultants will not only deal with legal matters such as trade disputes and contracts relating to the corporations, but will also take part in major decision-making relating to the operation of the corporations,' Mr Allcock said.
The mainland's State Economic and Trade Commission has set a target for 80 per cent of all state-owned enterprises to set up corporate legal departments following China's WTO entry.
But the president of the All China Lawyers' Association, Gao Zong Ze, warned the invitation did not mean Hong Kong lawyers would become qualified mainland practitioners.
'In-house lawyers in China are not really lawyers - they don't need to pass the Bar and they do not get the stamp on their passport saying they are practising lawyers,' Mr Gao said.
The latest move comes after the local legal community was left disappointed by the mainland's regulations announced in March concerning Hong Kong law firms setting up office on the mainland.
Since then Hong Kong and mainland officials have been discussing closer legal ties.
China's entry into the WTO caused it to back down on a previous promise to give preferential treatment to Hong Kong lawyers over overseas practitioners.
The new regulations for the territory's lawyers are almost identical to those for foreign firms.
Senior counsel Alan Hoo, head of the Basic Law Institute, urged the Ministry of Justice in China to recognise the mutual importance of Hong Kong and mainland lawyers to each other.
'Hong Kong is a founding member of the WTO, our lawyers possess the skills and credibility mainland lawyers need, a common culture, common language - we are all part of the same country and should stand together. Why am I treated like a foreign lawyer in my own country?'
Mr Hoo said Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan ought to be treated differently from the rest of the world by China, in the same way European Union countries and the North American Free Trade Zone operate.
'The opening of China is not just about United States law firms coming to China, but about Chinese setting up law firms in New York and Chicago,' he said.
