Hong Kong Bar Association chief says independence of profession will be even more important amid challenges to rule of law

Victor Dawes says professional independence crucial as city’s rule of law continues to face challenges

He says ‘balance has to be struck’ between law and order and ‘other fundamental rights’

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Bar Association chairman Victor Dawes says independence of the profession remains vital. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:17am, 13 May 2024Updated: 4:08pm, 13 May 2024

The chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association has said the profession’s independence will assume greater importance as the rule of law continues to be challenged and appealed to the government to maintain a balance between national security and the city’s freedoms.

Victor Dawes told the Post as the body prepared to mark its 75th anniversary that the profession of barrister had been much more than a business over the past seven decades and would continue to defend its unique calling.

“From our perspective, the balance has to be struck in maintaining law and order and other fundamental rights,” he said. “That appropriate balance is something that our government will have to bear in mind.”

Dawes was speaking in the wake of the legislature’s approval of a domestic national security law in March and a week after the courts upheld an injunction to ban the distribution of “Glory to Hong Kong”, which became the anthem of the 2019 protests.

The Bar Association suggested in a position paper during a month-long consultation period on the security legislation in February that the government should offer clearer definitions and narrower scopes for proposed offences to avoid a chilling effect on lawful conduct.

Some suggestions, such as a public interest defence, were incorporated into the law, but an “incitement to violence” requirement for sedition offences was among those not taken on board.