Near-naked antics were undignified, appeal court judges rule
Maverick solicitor Paul Tse Wai-chun yesterday failed to have a fine of $130,000 quashed for a near-naked protest in Central and for sending out circulars inviting solicitors to attend a closed-door tribunal hearing.
Appeal Court judges told him his antics in Central would have made the legal profession a laughing stock and were more appropriate 'in a show-business setting'.
The court unanimously dismissed the appeal against the decision of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the fine imposed on September 10 last year. Mr Tse was also ordered to pay two-thirds of the tribunal's costs.
Mr Tse was found to have breached the Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct when he stripped down to swimming trunks outside Wheelock House in Pedder Street on March 1, 2001 covering his loins with a banner stating in English and Chinese: 'Legal rights are inborn, mine too'.
The lawyer also distributed circulars inviting members of the profession to attend the disciplinary hearing he was facing that afternoon, despite the tribunal having earlier ruled that the hearing was to be held behind closed doors.
The disciplinary tribunal was convened to hear complaints between October 1997 and February 1999 over alleged misconduct by Mr Tse, including posing nearly nude on the cover of Next Magazine in 1999.