The Judiciary and Legal Affairs Committee of the Legislative Council was originally scheduled to discuss the revision of the "Legal Practitioners Ordinance" today (27th). Related, it is related to whether overseas lawyers can participate in national security cases, describing the topic as "extremely important and quite complicated". In the end, the chairman of the committee, Liao Changjiang, announced that the agenda will be postponed to March 17, and 3 hours will be reserved for discussion.
Lin Dingguo pointed out that this revised proposal involves the interpretation of Articles 14 and 47 of the National Security Law by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress at the end of last year, and involves the issue of overseas lawyers who do not have full qualifications in Hong Kong and come to Hong Kong to practice in the form of special case applications.
The government understands that parliamentarians, legal professional groups and people in the community have different opinions on relevant issues. In order to ensure that the amendments can accurately and effectively fulfill the government’s constitutional responsibility in safeguarding national security, it hopes to listen carefully to the opinions of all parties and allow sufficient time for discussion , do a good job explaining and answering questions.
Lin Dingguo continued to point out that due to the extremely important and complicated issues, the 50-minute discussion reserved for today's amendment to the law is not ideal and sufficient. Day) sent a letter to the legislation, hoping to postpone the meeting and extend the discussion time.
Lam Hsin-keung, a member of the Legislative Council from the legal profession, and Kan Wai-min, who has a legal background, did not object to the postponement of the discussion.
Jian Huimin also agrees that the relevant issues are important, and 50 minutes of discussion time is really not enough.
Finally, Liao Changjiang, chairman of the committee, said that the relevant agenda will be postponed to the 17th of next month, and 3 hours will be reserved for discussion.
He pointed out that the topic is of social concern and all members of the Legislative Council will be invited to attend.
Amendments suggest that if you hire overseas lawyers to handle national security cases, you must obtain a certificate from the Chief Executive
Li Zhiying was approved by the Court of First Instance earlier to hire British Queen's Counsel Tim Owen to defend his "Hong Kong National Security Law" case.
This month, the Department of Justice submitted a document to the Judiciary and Legal Affairs Committee of the Legislative Council to propose amendments to Article 27 of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance. Overseas barristers who participate in national security cases must first obtain a certificate from the Chief Executive.
The amendments include that when the court encounters an overseas barrister handling a national security case, it must submit a special case to the Chief Executive and obtain a certificate (Certificate of the Chief Executive) in accordance with Article 47 of the "Hong Kong National Security Law". The first is whether the barrister's practice or conduct involves national security, and the second is whether it will be detrimental to national security.
The amendments apply to all cases involving national security and did not specify when they will take effect.
The Government plans to submit a bill for this legislative proposal to the Legislative Council in the first or second quarter of 2023 as soon as possible.
Lin Dingguo: In the first half of the year, the revision of 23 articles of the "Regulations on Legal Practitioners" has been completed, and the National People's Congress has made progress during the year︱Li Jiachao: The "Regulations on Legal Practitioners" will be revised as soon as possible. "Legal Practitioners Regulations" National People's Congress Interpretation of the Law｜Revision of Legal Practitioners Case Chen Hongyi: Foreign Lawyers Can Be Banned from Participating in the National Security Case, Li Zhiying Case｜Government Amendment Law Political Secretary Lin Dingguo started to amend the regulations, saying that a sharp weapon must be first: the law is a tool to maintain national security
