Article 23 Legislation: Government Says National Security Suspects May Be Barred from Seeing Lawyers; Barred Lawyers Are Not “Aggrieved Parties” with Standing to Appeal
【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。