Hong Kong’s biggest lawyer group to voice concerns over national security law’s application during visit to mainland China next week
- Hong Kong Law Society president Chan Chak-ming says body will visit more than 10 government departments and institutions in Beijing next week
- Exchanges over rule of law will include voicing concerns over Beijing-imposed national security, he says, adding some aspects of its application were ‘unsatisfactory’
The head of Hong Kong’s Law Society has pledged to convey doubts about the implementation of the city’s national security legislation, including the denial of bail to some defendants, during the group’s planned meetings with mainland Chinese officials next week in Beijing.
Society president Chan Chak-ming said members of the body’s governing council had scheduled visits to more than 10 government departments and institutions on the mainland to exchange views on the rule of law in Hong Kong. The discussions would include voicing his fellow members’ concerns over the Beijing-imposed national security law, he said.
“The international community has cast doubt on the implementation of the national security law, with some of our members disagreeing with it,” Chan said at a press conference on Friday, two days before the trip.
“This is normal, as it is undeniably a controversial law. I will reflect their views faithfully.”
The planned visit by the group representing 13,000 solicitors in the city is the first after the implementation of the national security law in 2020, as trips had been suspended during the pandemic.
Chan added that other concerns the group planned to relay to mainland officials included the denial of bail to certain defendants and long waits often faced by some while awaiting trial, which he described as “unsatisfactory”.
“The actual operation might not involve the central government, as this is something within our jurisdiction under the ‘two systems’. But I will still reflect the different views to relevant departments,” he said.