Hong Kong's Judiciary Shows up in Force

Some 3,000 lawyers marched to government headquarters at Tamar today

Following the June 4 candlelight vigil that was part memorial and part peaceful protest against the Hong Kong's government to pass the extradition bill, today, some 3,000 lawyers showed up for a silent march to also protest the controversial bill.

They marched from the Court of Final Appeal to the government headquarters in Tamar, Admiralty. Aside from the large numbers of people from the judiciary, there were several notable people who came out and don't usually show up for public protests, such as former High Court deputy judge Ambrose Ho Pui-him, Joseph Tse Wah-yuen, and Nicholas Cooney.

The usual suspects were there -- Martin Lee Chu-ming, Albert Ho Chun-yan, Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, and Alan Leong Kah-kit.

The lawyers are protesting pushing through the extradition bill

Also in the march were some middle and junior level public prosecutors from the Department of Justice. Typically prosecutors of directorial grade are barred from joining events of political nature. Other marchers included legal academics and law students.

Some of the lawyers expressed concerns over the lack of an independent judiciary across the border and argued that under the proposal, local courts only had a limited role to protect the human rights of suspects to be extradited.

Ambrose Ho said there was no guarantee of fair trials on the mainland, urging the government to shelve the bill. "Authorities have a duty to gather general consensus," he said.

Several senior counsel, like former Bar Association chairman Ronny Wong and top criminal lawyer Lawrence Lok Ying-kam, said they may join the large protest of the extradition bill on Sunday afternoon.

When the lawyers arrived in Admiralty, they did not bow their heads like they did in the previous four silent marches they have held since 1997.

Civic Party lawmaker Dennis Kwok explained, "The legal sector will not bow to the government."

He added: "We call on this government to withdraw the extradition bill. This is the clear and almost unanimous belief of the legal profession."

Chris Patten warns the bill would "strike a terrible blow"

Former deputy director of public prosecutions John Reading pointed out that even though the Hong Kong government is rushing to pass the bill so that local resident Chan Tong-kai who murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan can be extradited there to face charges, Taiwan doesn't even want to request his extradition.

"Therefore, what is the rush at this stage?" he said, adding more time was needed to deliberate the bill in order to resolve the polarized views.

Also today former governor Chris Patten chimed in on the extradition bill, issuing a six-minute video message saying: "It doesn't have to happen, it shouldn't happen, and Hong Kong should carry on as a free society under the rule of law."

He said the extradition bill would "strike a terrible blow" to Hong Kong's rule of law, stability, security and its position as a great international trading hub.

However, the Hong Kong government will probably dismiss him as being an outsider interfering in the city's affairs.

Which is why it means a lot to see some 3,000 lawyers come out today to protest the extradition bill with the hopes that maybe the judiciary can talk some sense into the government... rushing it makes it even more suspect...