Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai (2nd left) arrives at the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong on Dec 31, 2020. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)

Prominent Hong Kong political and legal figures said the special administrative region would face a grave national security risk if media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying were to be allowed to have a UK barrister as his counsel in his upcoming trial.

The High Court in October approved Lai’s bid to hire British King’s Counsel Timothy Owen as his defense lawyer. Lai is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the National Security Law for Hong Kong.

The High Court in October approved Lai’s bid to hire British King’s Counsel Timothy Owen as his defense lawyer. Lai is charged with colluding with foreign forces under the National Security Law for Hong Kong. 

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On Friday, the Court of Final Appeal will hear an application for leave of appeal from the Department of Justice, which is attempting to overturn the lower court’s decision.

Lai will be tried on Dec 1 on four charges, including conspiracy to seek foreign sanctions on China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 

Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said that Lai’s case will inevitably involve evidence of foreign interference in Hong Kong’s affairs, especially from the United Kingdom and the United States.

Therefore, using a UK barrister to represent Lai in his upcoming trial would definitely lead to controversy and be considered unfair by many, regardless of the final trial result, Lau said. 

Lawrence Ma Yan-kwok, a barrister and chairman of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation, said that allowing a nonlocal lawyer from a foreign country to defend a case involving the National Security Law would pose serious national security risks. 

For example, the lawyers may violate the confidentiality agreement and disclose State secrets when they return to their home countries, thus affecting national security. It is also difficult to hold them accountable, Ma said.

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Lawyer Nicholas Chan Hiu-fung, who is also a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress, said it was not in the best interest of the public to have a foreign lawyer or a lawyer not familiar with Hong Kong handling a case like this. 

This is especially true when such a person is not familiar with the civil law system, under which the National Security Law - promulgated by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, the nation’s top legislature - was written, Chan said. 

It raises questions on how much a foreign counsel can help the defendant’s case and what it may incur if he leaks State secrets, Chan said. 

It also runs against the legislative intent of the National Security Law to allow someone access to State secrets and leave without the supervision of the country. 

Lawmaker Holden Chow Ho-ding worries that “human rights” may prevail over national security, as shown in the decision of allowing Owen to represent Lai in his trial. It’s worrying to see that such a decision has overly empha so-called “human rights” while ignoring the importance of national security and the background and spirit of China’s national security legislation, Chow said.

Willy Fu Kin-chi, a law professor at Beijing Jiaotong University and a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, said lawyers may have access to State secrets in the process of handling National Security Law cases. 

He added that if the court trusts the integrity of overseas lawyers, it precludes the risk of leaks that could harm national security by allowing overseas lawyers to represent defendants in cases related to the National Security Law. 

Contact the writers at oasishu@chinadailyhk.com