Accolades for choice of public law specialist to head Bar

Barristers yesterday welcomed Philip Dykes' election as Bar Association chairman, saying the choice of a public-law specialist was particularly apt in view of constitutional developments in Hong Kong.

Mr Dykes was elected unopposed on Thursday - four years after Alan Leong Kah-kit narrowly defeated him for the post.

Well known for representing the underdog - his cases have involved mainland abode seekers, asylum seekers, Vietnamese boatpeople and victims of discrimination - the 51-year-old's most recent cases include that of the pensioner challenging the Link Reit listing and Sing Tao Daily's challenge to an ICAC raid on its newsroom.

As an assistant solicitor-general between 1989 and 1991, he had special responsibility for human rights and constitutional affairs.

'I have been on the Bar Council for the most part of the past 10 years and am honoured to be given the opportunity to put back into the profession some of what I have gained from it,' Mr Dykes said yesterday.

Former Bar chief Ronny Tong Ka-wah, under whom Mr Dykes served as vice-chairman for two years, said: 'As public-law issues become more relevant to Hong Kong, it is only right that Philip Dykes, who is very learned particularly in these issues, should be the Bar's chairman.'