Lawyers say Occupy protests are undermining Hong Kong's rule of law
About 50 lawyers held a silent gathering outside the High Court yesterday to express their concern that the rule of law has been undermined by protesters occupying roads.
About 50 lawyers held a silent gathering outside the High Court yesterday to express their concern that the rule of law has been undermined by protesters occupying roads.
They asked the government to strictly enforce the law without delay and urged occupiers to leave protest sites immediately.
This came as the Alliance for Peace and Democracy, an anti-Occupy alliance led by Robert Chow Yung, announced it had collected 1.83 million signatures in a campaign that calls for the restoration of public order and supports the police.
Chow said the signatures, accounting for a quarter of the city's population, gave them legitimacy and he would request meetings with student leaders and pan-democrat lawmakers to urge them to stop the action.
The silent gathering was initiated by solicitor Stanley Chan Wing-leung of Sun Lawyers and Doreen Kong Yuk-foon of Reed Smith Richards Butler.
Also present was barrister and lawmaker Dr Priscilla Leung Mei-fun and barrister Ma Yan-kwok, of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
There were 1,230 practising barristers and 7,893 certified solicitors in Hong Kong in April this year, according to the Law Society.
Chan said that it was urgent for legal professionals to safeguard the rule of law because injunctions issued by the court to clear portions of roads in Mong Kok and Admiralty had been flouted by protesters.
The High Court has granted three temporary injunctions against protesters in Mong Kok and around Citic Tower near the government complex in Admiralty. The orders have largely been ignored by the protesters.
Chan said the street protests should end for the sake of Hongkongers' well-being.
In June some 1,800 lawyers staged a silent march through the city to protest against Beijing's white paper on Hong Kong, saying it jeopardised judicial independence. The document, issued by the State Council on June 10, called judges "administrators" and said they should be patriotic.
