Carrie Lam appoints two new members to IPCC as watchdog sets up panel of overseas experts

Former Bar Association chairman Paul Lam Ting-kwok SC and former deputy ombudsman Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping are set to join the council

Paul Lam asks for public’s support for probe into police handling of protests, Yu admits the task ahead will not be easy

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In a pre-recorded message, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announces an independent study to probe social ills and the withdrawal of the extradition bill. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 9:07pm, 4 Sep 2019Updated: 10:37am, 5 Sep 2019

Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has appointed two more members to the Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), as the watchdog announced it would set up a panel of overseas experts to help its ongoing probe into the police’s alleged use of excessive force when handling anti-government protests in recent months.

The appointments were one of the four main action plans announced by Lam on Wednesday in a bid to pacify the worsening protests that were triggered by the extradition bill controversy.

The two new members to join the 27-member IPCC are former Bar Association chairman Paul Lam Ting-kwok SC, and former deputy ombudsman Helen Yu Lai Ching-ping.

Yu, a retired veteran civil servant, was part of Carrie Lam’s campaign team during the 2017 chief executive election. She had previously expressed reservations about calls for the extradition bill to be withdrawn, and also believed the existing mechanism of handling complaints against police was adequate.

Yu had also disagreed with protesters’ demands to exonerate those previously arrested, saying it went against due judicial process.

Senior Counsel Paul Lam Ting-kwok, former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association. Photo: Nora Tam