Roundup: Exchange of Mainland, HK Lawyers Beefed Up

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 04, 2002

Roundup: Exchange of Mainland, HK Lawyers Beefed Up

The first-ever Hong Kong solicitor delegation returned from a two-week work attachment program in Chongqing, one of China's four municipalities, recently to form business networks with local law firms for mutual case referrals in future.

The delegation was formed amid China's accession into the World Trade Organization at the end of last year, which heralds a world of fresh opportunities for Hong Kong and mainland solicitors and barristers alike.

The event followed a total of 37 mainland lawyers from Chongqing, Xi'an and Chengdu coming to Hong Kong for two-week exchange programs sponsored and organized by the Hong Kong Law Society from May to October last year.

"Hong Kong lawyers still need to study laws in the mainland, even though they may not get any mainland legal practice certificate in the end. This is because in future, although they are not qualified to give legal opinions, they will have to understand and tell the local clients how certain mainland procedures work," said Anthony Chow, former president and chairman of the WTO Committee of the Hong Kong Law Society said.

"If our lawyers had not gone to the mainland, we would not know their level of professional stand and quality, nor would we know which law firm specializes in what kind of cases," said Ambrose Lam, the leader of the delegation.

He added that the trip was helpful in forging closer working relationships and in exploring potential business opportunities so that they would be in a better position to assess their position before making plans of doing business on the mainland.

At the moment, about 10 percent of the Law Society's 300 members had set up branch offices in the mainland, and many more will do so, as they have filed their applications after China joined the WTO.

Chow said the society has been working hard in the past five years in breaking the ice between mainland and Hong Kong lawyers and removing prejudices on each others' legal system.

"The current batches of inbound and outbound exchanges are the result of our hard work in assisting both sides to gain trust in each other. We don't hold the view that one system is superior to another. We believe each system has its own merits," he said.

Last year, a total 37 mainland lawyers visited Hong Kong, 12 from Chongqing, 12 from Xi'an, and 13 from Chengdu, Chow said.

Whilst in Hong Kong, the mainland lawyers' programs included attending seminars on management of law firms in Hong Kong and Hong Kong case studies, he said. Other items included visiting the Department of Justice and attending meetings at the Land Registry and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The next batch of mainland lawyers will be from Fuzhou, Chow said, adding that the society hoped to allow about 100 mainland lawyers to come to Hong Kong for training with a two to three years period, and preference will be given to lawyers from the northwestern part of China.

Elsie Leung, Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice, said in her speech at the Roundtable Discussion on China's WTO accession in Shanghai earlier that if Hong Kong lawyers only focused on Hong Kong law and had yet to master conditions in the mainland, it would impede the cooperation between the two communities in resolving issues, adding that many practicing lawyers in the mainland had already acquired a deep understanding of Hong Kong and its laws.

Leung reminded Hong Kong lawyers that Hong Kong lawyers should provide services in other areas such as the administrative law, legislation enactment and the construction of the legal system, the management and practice of the legal profession, and, in the context of the WTO, create favorable conditions to strengthen the modernization of the country's legal system, judicial system and the legal profession.

Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland Lawyers Complement Each Other After WTO