Next Media founder Li Zhiying and three "Apple Daily" related companies are accused of violating the "National Security Law" and have been scheduled for trial on December 1 this year.
The judge of the High Court approved Jimmy Lai in the middle of last month to hire the British Queen's Barrister Tim Owen to represent him during the trial. The Department of Justice refused to accept it and lodged an appeal. Deputy Chief Judges Kwan Shuxin and Zhu Fenling of the Court of Appeal, and Judge Au Qingxiang today (9th) delivered their resignations. , dismissed the appeal of the Attorney General and affirmed the original judgment, that is, Lai Kesui was represented by the British Queen's Counsel, and the Attorney General must pay the costs of this application.
The three judges said in their verdicts that the trial will attract extensive media coverage, involving complex legal disputes such as the National Security Law and the protection of press freedom and human rights, which are of great importance to the public, and will have a strong impact on the future implementation of the National Security Law in Hong Kong. Jurisprudence, and the development of incitement offences have had a major impact.
In addition, the public is also very important to the fairness of the trial and how the court implements judicial justice. They believe that in order to protect the public interest, overseas legal representatives should be allowed to participate in this trial.
The defendant, Jimmy Lai (74), and Apple Daily Co., Ltd., Apple Daily Printing Co., Ltd. and Apple Daily Internet Co., Ltd., are charged with 1 count each of conspiracy to publish seditious publications and conspiracy to collude with foreign forces.
Lai was separately charged with two counts of conspiring with Chen Zihua, Mark Simon, Li Yuxuan and others to collude with foreign forces.
Hong Kong court handles foreign collusion case for the first time
Lai Zhiying intends to hire Tim Owen, the British Queen's Barrister, to represent the case, but the Secretary for Justice and the Bar Association have objected.
Chief Judge Pan Zhaochu of the High Court said in his sentence last month that this is the first time the High Court has dealt with the charge of collusion with foreign forces, involving a number of controversial issues, including the criminal behavior and intent of the accused, and discussing or analyzing how to safeguard the country. To strike a balance between safety and protection of freedom of speech, the case has a significant impact on the legal development of Hong Kong, and I think Tim Owen can assist the court in handling it.
Lai's appointment of Tim Owen was approved after consideration of the public interest.
Department of Justice questioned that overseas lawyers may not know the situation in Hong Kong
In the judgment, the judge of the Court of Appeal said that the DoJ referred to the unique background of the National Security Law when appealing, and Chief Justice Poon Siu-chu ignored this factor when granting the permission.
Legal representatives from overseas may not understand Hong Kong's unique social, political and constitutional background, and they have no experience in handling local national security law cases, so they think that they can provide limited assistance, not to mention that experienced barristers have participated in this case.
The Court of Appeal held that the "Hong Kong National Security Law" was still subject to many disputes, and believed that overseas legal representatives could assist the court.
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Trust overseas lawyers to assist
However, the Court of Appeal retorted that Pan Guan had dealt with Tang Yingjie, Ma Junwen and other national security law cases in the past, and was familiar with the interpretation of the law.
Moreover, the National Security Law stipulates that human rights and freedom of speech need to be protected, and the Human Rights Law also has relevant international laws. The assistance that overseas legal representatives can provide is not as limited as the Department of Justice claims.
National security law also needs to adhere to the rule of law
As Pan pointed out, it is "extremely difficult" to strike a balance between safeguarding national security and guaranteeing freedom of speech.
Citing an article by former non-permanent judge Anthony Mason, the Department of Justice also mentioned that the rulings of Hong Kong courts should reflect that the level of the rule of law has reached international standards, and the provisions of the National Security Law also stipulate that the rule of law must be adhered to.
In response to the Department of Justice's claim that the UK has no similar legislation to the "conspiracy offence" under the National Security Act, and that the offence of sedition in the two places is also "different", it believes that the offence of overseas sedition is not relevant.
However, the Court of Appeal pointed out that this statement may be exaggerated, just as Lai pointed out that the crime of sedition was implemented in Hong Kong as early as 1938, and similar legislation in the United Kingdom was also used until 2009.
In the past, overseas lawyers have also participated in Basic Law disputes
The judge continued to point out that there is no evidence to show that it would be better for people who understand Chinese to handle national security law cases. The Department of Justice did not mention the need to raise disputes over the Chinese version of the law during the trial. Deduction and defense, and non-Chinese speaking judges have also been appointed as designated judges under the National Security Law.
The court should lay a solid foundation for the implementation of the national security law
They also said that the legal issues involved in this case are complex and may be dealt with by the Court of Appeal or even the Court of Final Appeal in the future. The court should establish a solid jurisprudential foundation in the early stage of the implementation of the National Security Law, so as to demonstrate that the rule of law in Hong Kong has reached international standards and has outstanding The participation of legal experts in the trial has contributed to the development of the jurisprudence of the National Security Law, which is obviously in the public interest. Moreover, the disputes involved in this case are extremely complex and difficult, and the court needs to grant permission based on the public interest.
Based on the above factors, the Court of Appeal held that none of the DoJ's arguments were valid and could not see any basis for deviating from Pan Guan's decision, dismissed the DoJ's appeal, and ordered the DoJ to pay the costs.
Case No.: CACV425/2022
High Court of National Security Law Approves Li Zhiying's Appointment of Queen's Barrister Tim Owen's Defense Zhiying involved in Fraud Technology Park｜The company under its name was convicted of failing to declare an office in the Apple Building
