Hong Kong justice chief secures consent from mainland China’s top court on training courses for local lawyers
- Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng met Supreme People’s Court president Zhou Qiang as part of her four-day visit to Beijing
- Mainland also agrees to render support to Hong Kong legal practitioners to join international commercial expert committee of Supreme People’s Court
Hong Kong’s justice chief has secured consent from mainland China’s top court for local lawyers interested in practising in Guangdong province to be offered training courses, a move that is likely to boost the city’s legal profession.
The consensus on providing practical mainland legal training courses was reached on Wednesday after a meeting between Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah and Supreme People’s Court president Zhou Qiang in Beijing. Cheng is on a four-day visit to the capital to meet senior cadres from various ministries.
During the meeting, the mainland side also agreed to render “support to Hong Kong legal practitioners to join the international commercial expert committee of the [Supreme People’s Court] and serve as specially invited mediators and assessors of [mainland courts]”, according to a Hong Kong government statement on Cheng’s Wednesday itinerary.
On Monday, Law Society of Hong Kong president Melissa Kaye Pang urged Cheng to use the Beijing visit as a chance to help local lawyers secure more secondment, learning and work opportunities internationally and on the mainland.
