Law change allows solicitors right to appear in higher courts

The exclusive right of barristers to represent clients in the higher courts will end following passage of the Legal Practitioners (Amendment) Bill by LegCo on 20 January, which will allow solicitors to apply for the right to represent clients in the High Court and the Court of Final Appeal if they have practised law for at least five years after obtaining professional qualifications. It was reported that neither the Law Society nor the Bar Association view the extended rights of audience to be a precursor for the merging of the barrister and solicitor professions. Law Society President Huen Wong said solicitors will still need to refer complicated cases to barristers who have special expertise, while Bar Association Chairman Russell Coleman said he did not think many solicitors will choose to leave their office desks to spend time in court.

Judiciary’s Mediation Information Office opens

The Mediation Information Office, which was established under the Judiciary’s Practice Direction 31 on mediation, opened on 4 January. The office provides litigants with information to help them consider whether they should attempt mediation to resolve their disputes, and to enable them to seek it from professional bodies. The office, which is in the High Court Building in Queensway, will serve as a focal point for inquiries regarding all court related mediation. Accredited mediators will be appointed by the parties themselves to maintain an independent and impartial judiciary. Mr Wong Yan Lung, the Secretary for Justice, is leading a cross-sector working group to promote mediation and a report is expected to be released for public consultation in early 2010.

State Council says Hong Kong referendum violates Basic Law

China’s State Council said the ‘five districts referendum’ proposed by some legislators in Hong Kong would violate China’s Constitution and the Basic Law as the referendum had no legal basis in either piece of legislation. The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress has already set a timetable (no earlier than 2017) for the development of Hong Kong’s political system, including the principles and procedures that universal suffrage in respect of the chief executive and legislature should follow. Prodemocracy parties in Hong Kong and some other organisations have proposed that five legislators, one from each of Hong Kong’s five electoral districts, resign so their candidates will advocate that all Hong Kong citizens can vote for general elections in the consequent by-elections in 2012. The proposal is regarded by its proponents as a de facto referendum.

Dissident handed over to Mainland from HK

Zhou Yongjun, a former student leader from the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing who was handed over to Chinese police by the Hong Kong immigration authorities, has been jailed for nine years and fined RMB80,000 (US$12,000) on financial fraud charges involving Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Bank by a court in Sichuan province. Zhou had travelled to Hong Kong from Macau last September under a false identity, but was held and transferred by Hong Kong officials to police in Shenzhen. Extradition of individuals from Hong Kong to the Mainland is rare, as the Basic Law obliges authorities to ‘safeguard the rights and freedoms’ of all those in the city. Zhou’s lawyer said there were jurisdictional concerns about the case because the alleged fraud was committed in Hong Kong and the alleged victim is Hong Kong-based. He added that under ‘one country, two systems’ Mainland judicial authorities do not have jurisdiction to handle Hong Kong lawsuits.