Opinion | Teresa Cheng should have sought independent counsel for CY Leung’s case – that she didn’t is worrisome
- Grenville Cross says policy and precedent are clear: the Justice Department should have sought an outside opinion, and Teresa Cheng’s answer for why she didn’t suggests she’s uniformed
The first situation involves cases where there is a need for expert advice which is not available within the department itself. In the second, a case may be briefed out to a private lawyer where the department has no suitable counsel available to appear in court. Third, the size, complexity and length of a case may necessitate briefing out.
Fourth, it may be required “to address possible perceptions of bias or issues of conflict of interest”. Fifth, briefing out may be necessary to ensure continuity and economy, as where a departmental prosecutor who has been handling a particular case moves into the private sector.
The sixth situation arises where someone in the Department of Justice itself is suspected of a crime and an outside opinion is sought so that justice can be seen to be done.
The fourth principle is adopted in politically sensitive cases, as where public figures are criminal suspects, and it has been applied consistently since 1997 by all previous secretaries for justice: Elsie Leung Oi-Sie, Wong Yan-Lung and Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung.
