China’s top lawmaking body has given Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) the power to bar foreign lawyers from national security cases, removing the decision from the territory’s courts, in a move likely to further fuel concerns over judicial independence.
The use of foreign lawyers by prosecutors and the defense have long been part of Hong Kong’s rule of law traditions.
The move, reported on Friday by Xinhua news agency, came after a Hong Kong court this month postponed a national security trial against media tycoon and China critic Jimmy Lai (黎智英) to September, to give time for the ruling by the Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC).
Photo: EPA-EFE
In November last year, Lee had asked the NPCSC to weigh in on the matter after a series of failed attempts by the Hong Kong Department of Justice to block British lawyer Timothy Owen from defending Lai.
Critics say Beijing’s intervention in this landmark legal case undermines Hong Kong’s judicial independence, after a panel of three senior judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in November last year rejected a government bid to block Owen from representing Lai.
The NPCSC ruling said that Hong Kong courts must now obtain approval from the chief executive before admitting any foreign lawyer without local qualifications to work on national security cases.
If the courts do not do so, the Hong Kong Committee for Safeguarding National Security, which is led by the chief executive and Beijing’s liaison office head, would make a decision on the matter.
Under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, decisions made by the committee cannot be challenged by a judicial review.
Lee told a news conference late on Friday that the decision only involves “a very small area,” as they are only looking at whether overseas lawyers should be allowed to take part in national security cases.
“Beyond national security cases, then they are most welcome, provided that they satisfied the procedure to obtain an ad hoc admission approval by the court,” Lee said.
Legal academic Eric Lai (黎恩灝) wrote on Twitter that the decision “creates a de facto political-legal committee for Hong Kong,” as judicial independence vanishes when executive authorities can override a court decision without being challenged by a judicial review.
Jimmy Lai, who has been in custody for nearly two years, faces possible life imprisonment under the China-imposed National Security Law, for charges including alleged collusion with foreign countries.
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