HONG KONG, Dec 31 (Reuters) – China’s high lawmaking physique has given Hong Kong chief John Lee the ability to bar international legal professionals from nationwide safety instances, eradicating the choice from town’s courts, in a transfer more likely to additional gas considerations over judicial independence.
The usage of international legal professionals by each prosecutors and the defence have lengthy been a part of the previous British colony’s rule of legislation traditions.
The transfer, reported by state information company Xinhua on Friday, comes after a Hong Kong court docket this month postponed a nationwide safety trial towards media tycoon and China critic Jimmy Lai to September, to offer time for the ruling by China’s Nationwide Individuals’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC).
In November, Lee had requested the NPCSC to weigh in on the matter after a collection of failed makes an attempt by the Division of Justice to dam a British lawyer, Timothy Owen, from defending Lai.
Critics say Beijing’s intervention on this landmark authorized case undermines Hong Kong’s judicial independence, after a panel of three senior judges on town’s Courtroom of Remaining Attraction in November rejected a authorities bid to dam Owen from representing Lai.
The NPCSC ruling stated Hong Kong courts should now receive approval from the chief government earlier than admitting any international lawyer with out native {qualifications} to work on nationwide safety instances.
If the courts don’t achieve this, town’s nationwide safety committee, which is led by the chief government and Beijing’s liaison workplace chief, will decide on the matter.
Beneath the nationwide safety legislation, the selections made by the committee can’t be challenged by a judicial evaluate.
Lee stated in a information convention late on Friday the choice solely includes “a really small space” as they’re solely taking a look at whether or not abroad legal professionals ought to be allowed to participate in nationwide safety instances.
“Past nationwide safety instances, then they’re most welcome, supplied that they glad the process to acquire an advert hoc admission approval by the court docket,” Lee stated.
Authorized scholar Eric Lai stated on Twitter that the choice “creates a de facto political-legal committee for Hong Kong”, as judicial independence vanishes when government authorities can override a court docket determination with out being challenged by a judicial evaluate.
Jimmy Lai, who has been in custody for almost two years, faces attainable life imprisonment below the China-imposed nationwide safety legislation, for fees together with alleged collusion with international nations.
The founding father of now shut pro-democracy newspaper Apple Day by day, Lai is without doubt one of the most outstanding Hong Kong critics of China’s Communist Social gathering management, together with Xi Jinping.
Reporting by Hong Kong newsroom; Modifying by Anne Marie Roantree and Kim Coghill
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
