The election of directors of the Law Society’s annual general meeting was won by five “professional” members. The Educational Professionals Association also stated that it will hold a special general meeting on Saturday (August 28) to revise its constitution to initiate the dissolution process. The Legislative Council is in the process of Reviewing the bill to revoke the licensing of the Institute of Accountants and the power of review and supervision. In addition, there is news that the Stake Standing Committee has passed a resolution to dissolve. As for the government's arrangements for the swearing procedure of district councillors, it has been delayed. Various incidents reflect the professionalism and politics of Hong Kong. The group ecology has changed a lot.
Article 27 of the Basic Law stipulates that "Hong Kong residents shall enjoy freedom of speech, press, and press, freedom of association, assembly, procession, and demonstration, and the right and freedom to organize and join trade unions and strikes." Article 142 stipulates that "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region The government continues to recognize the professions and professional bodies recognized before the establishment of the special administrative region, and the recognized professional bodies may review and award professional qualifications on their own."
Of course, local professional and political organizations cannot use this to rationalize any crimes that endanger national security. However, unreasonable suppression of other organizations that are lawful and fail to prove that they have committed the relevant acts clearly violates the above provisions.
Professional organizations should also treat it professionally
Undoubtedly, professional organizations should not accept political forces. In particular, they must be careful not to be swayed by political issues or even forget their own mission. However, such requirements also apply to the attitude of the government and the outside world toward related organizations.
For example, the reform of the accountant’s regulatory system has been carried out for many years, and the industry generally held a positive attitude in the past. When this issue was brought to the fore in the near future, some people immediately prejudged that the Hong Kong government would retaliate or silence the voice, while others tried The history of the "politicization" of the Law of Certified Public Accountants, both of which have not been able to treat professional organization matters fairly.
The Lawyers Association was re-elected, and the professional group won 5 seats.
(Photo by Liao Yanxiong)
Let’s take the example of a lawyer’s association that has just completed the reelection of its directors. The “enlightened” originally occupied only 6 of the 20 directors’ seats. Even though Luo Changnan, who had retired for some reason, still had only 4 candidates, that’s even the case. They won’t be able to get the “enlightened faction” more than half of the board positions, but the Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared to the media in a high-profile manner that “if politics overrides its legal profession, the SAR government will also consider terminating its relationship with it.” Waiting for it to agree that the relationship between the government and the bar can be changed with the election of several directors, instead of following a set of objective and stable criteria. To a certain extent, this is also a politicized approach to dealing with professional organizations that may be politicized.
See legal principles rather than political means
This situation of using political rather than legal means to deal with politicized organizations or individuals is actually not limited to professional organizations.
For example, the "Public Service (Participation and Appointment) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2021" came into effect for nearly a hundred days, but the arrangement for the oath of district councilors has never been seen. Democrats’ resignation has also hindered the inability of individual district councils to operate. However, whether district councillors have to take oaths or even make indemnities, the government should be clear on the basis of legal principles, not vague and procrastinated, which is speculated as a political operation by the outside world. .
There has been no news about the arrangements for the swearing-in of the district councillors.
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As for the professional or political organizations such as the Education Association, the Chinese People's Democratic Front, and the Stake Association, they have announced their dissolution. Whether relevant organizations and people actually commit any illegal acts is only under investigation by the police, and has not undergone any formal prosecution or interrogation.
Under the premise of abiding by local laws, political organizations or discussants should have sufficient space for survival and activities. If they are suspected of violating the law, they should be dealt with by legal means.
After all, some political techniques may be enough to make others retreat, but their principled nature will inevitably arouse further suspicion. In this way, is it not continuing to politicize the problem?
The Democratic Party should have its own line and be careful to deal with worries in order to improve the anti-sanctions Fana Port arrangement should leave a line for the "community and people's livelihood"
