Thread by @XinqiSu

#BREAKING HK leader John Lee said he would propose to Beijing to request an interpretation of #NSL regarding ad hoc admission of overseas counsels.

John Lee: The right to legal representation for defendants in a nat sec case means he/she can freely choose from counsels who are fully qualified to practice in HK, not to choose from foreign counsels without such qualification.

John Lee: Hence even when a nat sec defendant cannot hire an overseas counsel, it’s still in accordance with the requirements to guarantee the accused’s rights and freedom provided in the article 4 and 5 of #NSL .

John Lee on foreign judges: Judges... have gone through the mechanism of recommendation and appointment and have passed integrity screening. NSL also provides a designated judge system to guarantee the law’s smooth operations. These two matters cannot be mixed as one.

John Lee: This time we are targeting overseas counsels and lawyers who basically have no right to practice in Hong Kong. We are targeting this type of people instead of nationality. Lawyers practicing in Hong Kong now can have different nationalities and work on different cases.

John Lee: It would be appropriate for the SJ to seek an adjournment to the actual trial. And we shall proceed to do that.

John Lee: There is no effective means to ensure that a counsel from overseas will not have conflict of interest because of his nationality, and there is also no means to ensure that he has not been coerced, compromised or in any way controlled...

...by foreign government, associations or persons, there are also no effective means to ensure that a counsel from overseas will comply with NSL63 that during his legal practice he would keep secret of info such as state secret, commercial secret and personal details.

John Lee: Throughout the whole appeal process, the DOJ has tried their best and put forward the strongest, and more comprehensive submissions.... I fully recognised DOJ’s efforts and I respect the court ruling.