The conviction of prominent solicitor Andrew Lam Ping-cheung in a witness-tampering case was not only profoundly wrong but threatened to limit defence lawyers' ability to do their job, a court heard yesterday.
The case highlighted a worrying trend on the part of the corruption watchdog to 'deter and criminalise' legitimate efforts to question prosecution witnesses, Lam's barrister, Clare Montgomery, told a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeal.
Even if a lawyer's conduct was 'foolish or unprofessional', it did not warrant criminal charges, she said.
'The charges were a profound disservice to the legal profession as well as a disservice to the applicant [Lam],' she told Mr Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li, Mr Justice Robert Tang Ching and Mr Justice Alan Wright.
Lam, 56, is appealing against his 2006 conviction for conspiracy to pervert justice. The charge stems from an investigation of listed company Semtech Holdings by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Semtech's chairman, Derek Wong Chong-kwong, 40, was sentenced in absentia to 39 months' jail on bribery charges related to the manipulation of Semtech's share price.
Wong, now a fugitive, was also convicted of conspiring with his girlfriend, Mandy Chui Man-si, 29, to stop a former Semtech employee - who is in a witness-protection programme - testifying at Wong's bribery trial.