Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok meets with members of the media at Justice Place in Central on Oct 27, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
The Department of Justice will prioritize its work in raising the law-abiding awareness of society, promoting Hong Kong stories to the world better, and fostering legal collaboration within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to solve residents’ practical needs, Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said on Thursday.
Revealing the plans in a group interview, the justice chief said the initiatives will be conducted under the framework mapped out in the first Policy Address delivered by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu a week ago.
Lam said that by the end of the month the Department of Justice will establish a task force to focus on strengthening mutual legal assistance between Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area
In the talk, the official noted that only by actively promoting education on the rule of law, including the Basic Law and the National Security Law for Hong Kong, can the special administrative region take full advantage of its position as an irreplaceable legal hub.
Although the city prides itself on a robust legal system, many Hong Kong residents have a vague perception of the system and concrete legal provisions, Lam said, adding that they don’t understand what is good about the system and why we have so many laws.
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Making sure that people can correctly understand the concept of the SAR’s political institutions and laws and the stories behind them, are both good for our society and that of the nation, he said.
In the Policy Address, the government announced it would set up a Steering Committee on Rule of Law Education and launch a new “Rule of Law Education Train-the-Trainers Programme” for promoting consistent and correct messages on the rule of law in the community.
During the interview, Lam said the training program is expected to start in the third quarter of 2023. The government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region will invite lawyers, law students and professionals with a law background, to design teaching materials and offer lessons to residents, in the hope of enhancing their legal awareness.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok meets with members of the media at Justice Place in Central on Oct 27, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
The authorities hope that after the public gains more legal knowledge through the program, members will be more conscious about respecting and abiding by the laws, the justice chief said.
Meanwhile, Lam also vowed to enable international communities to better understand the real situation of Hong Kong’s rule of law, as well as its well-established legal advantages.
He noted that many overseas societies have an inadequate, or even an incorrect understanding of Hong Kong’s legal system. There are also many cases of foreign media and politicians deliberately smearing the SAR’s judicial system, he said. Besides responding to these unfounded accusations in a timely manner, it’s also important to tell Hong Kong stories to the world better, Lam added.
In the upcoming Hong Kong Legal Week 2022, from Nov 7-11, the government will invite renowned international legal organizations and college students from overseas countries to exchange opinions on the rule of law.
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Lam said he will also invite some expatriates, who have lived in Hong Kong for many years, to reveal the actual situation in Hong Kong, with vivid examples and personal experiences.
“We will consider any feasible way to create more opportunities to tell Hong Kong stories better, speaking with facts to convince others,” Lam said.
In the interview, Lam also said that by the end of the month the Department of Justice will establish a task force to focus on strengthening mutual legal assistance between Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area. The force will be led by Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan.
Lam added that the group will solve practical problems such as simplifying the document application procedures for Hong Kong residents to return to the mainland.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok meets with members of the media at Justice Place in Central on October 27, 2022. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)
The Policy Address stated that an online mediation platform dedicated to dispute resolution in the GBA will be established within the next year to facilitate cross-border interaction between people and businesses.
Lam noted that online mediation is an emerging trend around the globe and contains much potential to develop.
He said he hopes to invest more resources in this platform and develop more functions for it to flourish. Lam said he envisions that the GBA can be a pilot zone to promote online mediation in a wider scope, believing that the approach will offer another option for GBA residents to conveniently solve legal disputes.