11 Mar 2024獨媒#3148
【23條立法】政府指禁國安案疑犯見律師 受禁律師非「利害受害者」無上訴身份
The Legislative Council met all day for the fourth consecutive day today to scrutinise the Safeguarding National Security Bill clause by clause. The morning meeting discussed restricting arrested persons’ right to consult a particular lawyer or law firm. DAB lawmaker Kennedy Ying Ho Wong was concerned that a lawyer’s reputation could be harmed if the lawyer were barred, and asked whether the authorities would establish an appeal mechanism for lawyers who were refused access. The Government replied that lawyers were not persons with a direct interest, and it saw no need to establish an avenue of appeal for them. It was the arrested person whose interests would be adversely affected by being restricted from seeing a lawyer; even if a lawyer who had been refused access sought judicial review, it did not appear likely that the application would be entertained.
立法會今日連續第4日全日開會逐條審議《維護國家安全條例草案》，早上會議提及限制被捕人諮詢某律師或某律師行的權利。民建聯黃英豪擔心若某律師被禁，其聲譽將會受損，問當局會否為被拒律師制訂上訴機制。政府回覆指，律師不是有直接利害關係的人士，看不到為他們設上訴渠道的必要，被限制見律師，利害受損的是被捕人，即使被拒律師提出司法覆核，也不見有被受理的機會。
12 Oct 2023法庭線#8476
初選案律師阻差辦公罪成提上訴 爭議警無權限設封鎖區
The democratic primary election case was brought before the court in March 2021, while the 47 defendants were undergoing bail hearings. When defence lawyer Kiu Lut-bong sought to enter the court after its gates had been closed, he was accused of refusing to show police his identity card. Kiu was convicted of obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty after trial and sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment. He appealed against his conviction and sentence, and the case was heard in the High Court on Thursday (12th).
民主派初選案於 2021 年 3 月提堂，47 名被告進行保釋聆訊期間。其中一名辯方律師丘律邦要求進入已落閘的法院時，被指拒向警方出示身份證。丘經審訊後被裁定阻差辦公罪成，判囚 7 天。丘不服定罪及刑罰提上訴，案件周四（ 12 日）在高等法院進行聆訊。
上訴方爭議，案發時法院外人群已散去，並無出現《公安條例》下的公眾集結，故警方沒有權限設立封鎖區。而丘已多次表明身分，甚至報警求助，當時他正在處理法庭內的案件，不應受阻撓。法官陳仲衡質疑，上訴人稱「我係律師」，並非「萬試萬靈的咒語」，應提供證明。
律政司則反駁指，警方有責任維持現場秩序，確保沒有「存心搞事」的人進入法庭。警方在法院外設封鎖區正是配合法庭運作。而且並非「著西裝打呔、拎住疊紙、自稱律師」便可在法庭「自出自入」，警方僅要求丘出示身分證明，但他拒絕，明顯為難警方，屬蓄意阻撓。案件押後至 2024 年 1 月 12 日裁決。
14 Aug 2023光傳媒#8191
國際金融中心變中國金融中心 《金融時報》：港司法獨立受質疑 企業律師「自我審查」
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu has repeatedly said that Hong Kong’s common-law system is an advantage and pledged to develop the city into an international legal and dispute-resolution services centre in the Asia-Pacific region. But confidence in the judiciary has come under question. The Financial Times reported that the influence of the Chinese government has led to doubts about Hong Kong’s judicial independence, affecting the confidence of corporate lawyers and prompting “self-censorship”, with lawyers often choosing less controversial cases. The report quoted interviewees as saying that Hong Kong had changed from an international financial centre into a financial centre “centred on China”.
特首李家超多次表示香港有普通法制度優勢，矢言要將港發展為亞太區國際法律及爭議解決服務中心，但外界對司法信心存疑。《金融時報》報道，因中國政府的影響，香港司法獨立受到質疑，進而影響企業律師（Corporate Lawyers）的信心，並出現「自我審查」，往往選擇更少爭議的案件。報道引述受訪者直言，香港已由國際金融中心，變成「以中國為中心」的金融中心。
10 Jan 2023獨媒#5929
黎智英國際律師團隊要求晤英首相 討論「獲釋的可行性」
Following the interpretation of the law by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, whether Jimmy Lai may retain British King’s Counsel Tim Owen to defend him in his National Security Law case will be decided by the Hong Kong Committee for Safeguarding National Security. The BBC reported that Lai’s international legal team had written to the British government requesting a meeting with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss the “feasibility of securing Jimmy Lai’s release”.
人大釋法後，黎智英能否聘請英國御用大律師Tim Owen辯護其《國安法》案件，將要交由香港國安委決定。英國廣播公司（BBC）報導，黎智英的國際律師團隊已去信英國政府，要求與首相辛偉誠會面，討論「確保黎智英獲釋的可行性」。
30 Dec 2022同文#5888
香港人權律師逃往外國 中共清洗異議、維權人士 港府指與政治立場、背景或職業無關
A feature report published by Reuters yesterday, 29 December, said Hong Kong is witnessing numerous malicious acts targeting human rights lawyers, including anonymous threats, tracking devices being placed in cars and attacks by pro-China media. Some prominent legal figures have even been detained by the government, prompting many Hong Kong human rights lawyers to leave Hong Kong and flee abroad. One example is British national Michael Vidler, a practising lawyer in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong who represented Joshua Wong, Ken Tsang and Chu Hoi-dick in social movement cases. He left Hong Kong in April 2022 after a judge had named his law firm six times in the preceding months, which he believed indicated that national security authorities would investigate him.
據路透社昨 12 月 29 日公布的專題報告，香港現在有許多針對人權律師的惡意行為，包括匿名威脅、在汽車放置追蹤設備、被親中媒體攻擊等，甚至一些知名法律人士遭政府拘留，令許多香港人權律師都離開香港，逃向外國。例如韋智達（ Michael Vidler ），他是英國人，英國和香港的執業律師，曾代表黃之鋒、曾健超、朱凱廸等社運案件。他在 2022 年 4 月離開香港，原因是數月前法官六次點名其律師事務所，韋智達認為這是國安將會調查他。
24 Mar 2022獨媒#1884
美籍律師出獄即被遣返美國兼沒收護照 發文稱「一直視香港為家」
US banking lawyer Samuel Phillip Bickett became involved in a physical altercation at Causeway Bay Station in December 2019 after questioning the identity of an off-duty police officer. He was convicted of assaulting a police officer and sentenced to four and a half months in prison, while the High Court dismissed his appeals against the conviction and sentence. In a post on social media yesterday (23rd), he said he had completed his sentence and was released the day before, but was immediately deported to the US. He said the Immigration Department refused to allow him to remain for several days to handle his affairs and say goodbye to relatives and friends. During a transit stop in Turkey, local authorities refused to return his passport, saying it was a “routine request” from the Hong Kong government. He said he had always regarded Hong Kong as his home and believed he would be able to set foot in Hong Kong again one day.
美籍銀行律師Samuel Phillip Bickett，於2019年12月，在銅鑼灣站質疑休班警身分時雙方糾纏，審訊後襲警罪成囚4個半月，高院駁回其定罪及刑期上訴。他昨（23日）在社交平台發文指，自己前日已刑滿出獄，即時被遣返美國，並被入境處拒絕逗留數天以處理事務及與親友道別。他於土耳其轉機時，當地拒絕歸還護照，並稱是香港政府的「例行要求」。他指自己一直視香港為家，深信有日能再踏足香港。
Translations are supplied by the source workbook. Consult the original reporting for context.
