Beijing unlikely to allow foreign lawyers to argue in Hong Kong’s national security cases after recent controversy: pro-establishment legal heavyweight
- Situation today is much different from before, Basic Law Committee member Priscilla Leung says
- Top court to announce decision on Monday on whether to uphold a ruling that allows prominent British barrister Tim Owen to defend media tycoon Jimmy Lai
Recent controversy over foreign legal practitioners in Hong Kong has given Beijing pause for thought on leeway for overseas lawyers to join national security cases in court, a senior pro-establishment legal heavyweight has revealed.
“But the situation today is so much different from before,” Leung said.
“Over the past year, we have seen a foreign lawyer – invited by the Department of Justice – withdraw from a case amid pressure from his own country. There are also foreign judges who made some comments [over Hong Kong’s legal system] after resigning from the city’s top bench.”
These incidents had fuelled questions on whether foreign lawyers would be subject to pressure when they handled the city’s national security cases, she said.
Leung was weighing in on an ongoing legal row, with the Court of Final Appeal set to announce its decision on Monday on whether to uphold a ruling that allows prominent British barrister Tim Owen, a king’s counsel, to defend media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who would face charges of collusion with foreign forces in a coming trial.
The Department of Justice, which has twice lost in its objection against Lai’s retention of Owen, had earlier appealed to the court to impose a blanket ban on overseas lawyers from taking part in any national security cases unless under exceptional conditions.