Hundreds of Hong Kong lawyers in silent march against Beijing oath ruling

Prominent lawyers join rally, with Democratic Party founder Martin Lee describing the move as ‘a tank crashing into the legal system’

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Lawyers gather outside the High Court to protest against Beijing’s interpretation. Photo: David Wong

Published: 11:38pm, 8 Nov 2016Updated: 10:59am, 30 Nov 2016

Hundreds joined a silent march by the legal profession on Tuesday night in protest against the intervention by Beijing in a controversial oath-taking case, claiming it harms judicial independence.

However a Basic Law adviser to Beijing said it was up to a local court to decide whether the mainland ruling banning pro-independence lawmakers Sixtus Baggio Leung Chung-hang and Yau Wai-ching was retrospective and posed a legal challenge for more pan-democrat lawmakers over the way oaths were taken.

March organiser and legal-sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok said more than 2,000 people joined the protest Police put the turnout at 1,700.

It was the fourth silent march staged by lawyers against Beijing’s intervention in the judicial system since the handover in 1997.

Leading the march were senior counsel including Martin Lee Chu-ming, Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, Graham Harris, Alan Leong Kah-kit and solicitor John Clancey. Denis Chang, second on the Bar list, was also there.

Lee said the latest interpretation, the fifth of its kind since the handover, was “the worst” of all.

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