UN experts on shaky grounds defending renegade solicitor

The two United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteurs who expressed “grave concern” over the barring to practice solicitor Kevin Yam Kin Fung are on very shaky grounds, claiming there was no violation to the Law Society’s statutes or code of conduct.

Yet, the society’s Principles of Professional Conduct (Rule 2 of the Solicitors’ Practice Rules, Cap 159) clearly states that a solicitor shall not permit to be done anything which compromises or impairs “his reputation or the reputation of his profession.”

Yam is currently in Melbourne, Australia, after fleeing Hong Kong from prosecution relating to charges on sedition and collusion with foreign forces. The Hong Kong government has offered HK$1 million bounty for information relating to his arrest.

On January 6, this year, a formal complaint was filed by Secretary for Justice, Paul Lam Ting-kwok with the Law Society of Hong Kong alleging “conduct unbecoming a solicitor” by Yam. The charges stemmed primarily from statements Kevin Yam made to the US Congress’ Congressional Executive Commission on China (CECC) hearing last May. Lam’s complaint claimed that their acts brought the profession into dispute and undermined public confidence in Hong Kong’s judicial system and rule of law. In July, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found Yam guilty of professional misconduct, struck him off the Roll of Solicitors, and ordered him to pay HK$816,600 in legal costs.

Former Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma, wrote in his foreword to the Law Society’s Guidebook that: “The public looks to lawyers to fulfill the role of the administration of justice and is one that requires a combination of competence, proper conduct and professional ethics.”

Key to Yam’s crusade is his seeking support from US congress members for sanctions against Hong Kong officials and in particular the judiciary, including judges and prosecutors.

The two UN legal experts were Margaret Satterthwaite, special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and Irene Khan, special rapporteur on the protection and promotion of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. On October 3, they issued a joint statement expressing concern that Yam had been struck off the Roll of Solicitors “without having breached any of the Law Society’s statutes or code of conduct, and by a tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice.”

What the so-called experts failed to acknowledge was that Yam was bordering on treason by disrespecting the judiciary and the rule of law in Hong Kong by asking the US to impose sanctions on judges and prosecutors. And he was struck off the Roll by his peers in the Law Society and not by a tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice. His behaviour was definitely unprofessional by bringing the entire legal profession in Hong Kong into disrepute.

But the report itself was a flimsy piece of editorial, hastily prepared as if something had to be said to appease the human rights lobby. They claimed, for example, that for the Secretary for Justice to make a complaint to the Law Society was a conflict of interest. However, Lam defended his actions saying that the acts by Yam had undermined the judicial system and overall interests of Hong Kong. “As the guardian of public interest in the proper administration of justice and upholding the rule of law, I am duty bound to defend Hong Kong’s rule of law and due administration of justice,” he said.

UN special rapporteurs are not staff of the UN, but rather volunteers appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to investigate abuses in a private capacity. They carry no weight, and their findings are purely personal opinions. So much so that the press release issued under the banner of the Office of the High Commissioner of the UN Human Rights (OHCHR) carried a proviso that any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the UN or OHCHR.

However, they do attract attention in the media which has the ability to make a mountain out of a mole hill. For the media, sensationalism is the name of the game to boost readership regardless of the subject matter warranting any merit.

Mark Pinkstone

** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **

Hong Kong’s ambitious Northern Metropolis has received a shot in the arm with a HK$150 billion (US$19 billion) fund launch to kick-start the high-tech park’s development.

The site is massive, covering some 30,000 hectares, which is about one third of Hong Kong’s total land area and about the size of Philadelphia in the USA, or Edinburgh in Scotland.

And before the ink has dried since the announcement of the plan, more than 60 firms have moved into the first two buildings in the Phase 1 development of the San Tin Technopole, the centrepiece of the entire project. The infrastructure is already well in place: drainage has been laid, internal roads built with slip roads connecting to the main highway, electricity has been connected and buildings are sprouting like stalagmites while construction cranes dot the skyline. The area is a hive of activity.

When completed, the project will create 650,000 jobs and house 2.5 million people.

Naturally, such a project will require money, and Hong Kong has plenty of that. Hong Kong is the world’s top capital market, ranking the top spot for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in 2025. A combination of revenue earned from IPOs and bond sales, pushed Hong Kong’s 2025-26 budget to a surplus to some $3 billion (US$383 million). As Hong Kong is the envy of the world for its monetary management, raising the necessary funds for the $224 billion ($28 billion) project should not be difficult.

Normally, surpluses go into the government’s exchange fund, currently standing at $4.1 trillion ($524 billion), which is used to maintain the Hong Kong dollar’s peg to the US dollar. But with such ambitious plans afoot, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po has proposed taking some $150 billion ($19 billion) from the exchange fund to support the Northern Metropolis. Investment returns from the exchange fund last year topped $300 billion ($38 billion). This, he sees, as an investment, not an expenditure. After all, he said, this is only half of last year’s profits.

In his Budget speech last week Chan announced the setting up of a “Northern Metropolis Urban-Rural Integration Fund” which will entail an initial capital of $200 million ($25.5 million) to boost rural tourism in the area. Hong Kong is rich in heritage, and some 200 villages will benefit from the scheme. Another $1 billion ($128 million) will be earmarked for a heritage conservation fund for revitalzation projects and maintenance of historic buildings.

The government will also inject another $10 billion ($1.27 billion) into an adjacent project known as the Hetao Hong Kong Park, otherwise known as the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park. A dedicated company for this development, set up by the government in 2023 is seeking public-private partnerships to take up its offer to occupy some 1 million square metre gross floor area on 87.7 hectares of land. It is expected this site alone will provide some 52,000 innovation and technology jobs.

Although the metropolis is mainly high-tech, it will also house a university town with accommodation for students and a training hospital, as well as possibly earmarking some land for private hospital development. Applications will soon be open to develop campuses in the Hung Shui Kiu/Ha Tsuen area with an offer of $10 billion ($1.3 billion) in loans to the successful applicants. Tertiary education bonds are likely to be issued to support the construction of the university and its facilities. The universities have the capacity to issue bonds with their substantial financial reserves and profitable self-financing programes. After all it is normal for universities elsewhere to raise capital by the issuance of bonds. The government can provide a guarantee for the bonds, allowing them to receive a credit rating equivalent to government bonds which currently stands at AA+.

Investors can rest assured the Chinese Central Government will do everything in its power to preserve its southern treasure for generations to come with Hong Kong being the pinnacle for the Greater Bay Area.