Letters | Decision of tribunal in Hong Kong against solicitor is irreproachable
Readers discuss the banning of a solicitor from practising in the city, a Hong Kong tennis player’s achievements, and the effect of Trump’s tariffs on the Global South
On July 22, a Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found against Kevin Yam Kin-fung for having engaged in conduct unbefitting of a solicitor, thereby compromising his integrity, his own reputation and the reputation of the profession, contrary to common law.
The tribunal found that Yam, on May 11, 2023, appeared via video link at a hearing of the United States Congress’ Congressional-Executive Commission on China, as part of which Yam provided both oral and written testimony. In both testimonies, Yam identified himself as a Hong Kong legal professional who had practised law in the jurisdiction. In his testimony, Yam called for sanctions to be imposed by the United States government on judges and/or prosecutors in Hong Kong for their involvement in national security and/or politically related cases.
The tribunal ordered that Yam be struck off the roll of solicitors, meaning that Yam can no longer practise as a solicitor in Hong Kong.
This decision of the tribunal has caused an uproar in some Western legal circles. The critics, in my view, need to better understand the context.
From 2019 to 2020, Hong Kong was pushed to a breaking point by unrelenting riots and wanton destruction. Overseas quasi-political organisations provided support to rioters, all in the name of freedom and democracy. It took the enactment of the Hong Kong national security law (not vastly different from national security laws of Western countries) on June 30, 2020, to restore law and order in Hong Kong.