NSL Could Come Up In Beijing Talks: Law Society

Law Society President Chan Chak-ming on Friday said a trip by leading members of the group to Beijing next week will allow for open dialogue on issues such as Hong Kong's national security law.

Chan told a press conference that the society will visit various ministries and the Supreme People's Court and will have a meeting with members of the Basic Law Committee.

It's the first trip of its kind by the Law Society since 2019.

Chan said he's happy that the tradition of sending delegates to the capital every year for talks with mainland officials is resuming, and he hopes to use the upcoming meetings to make the society's 13,000 members' voices heard.

"It's been a long time since we had direct face-to-face meetings with the relevant bureaus and leaders in China. So it is very important that we resume this visit," he said.

"Our members have very diverse views on different issues, and I'm glad that I'm bringing the whole council, so that they can reflect their views directly to the officials in Beijing."

Chan also said the body generally welcomes proposed amendments to the Legal Practitioners Ordinance that were tabled to Legco earlier this week, under which Hong Kong courts will need approval from the chief executive before overseas lawyers can work on national security cases.

"All in all, we are in support of the government's proposal, in particular that it will not be a blanket ban on overseas barristers. The government is obviously now proposing that they will look into the issue on a case-by-case basis, and we welcome that. But obviously there are some technical issues that we are still looking into," he said.