Hong Kong’s top legal bodies call on justice minister Teresa Cheng to explain why investigation against former chief executive CY Leung was dropped
- In separate statements, the Bar Association and the Law Society asked Teresa Cheng if the Justice Department had changed its policy on seeking outside counsel
- Opposition lawmakers have warned of a possible motion of no confidence in Cheng but the minister has the support of LegCo’s largest party
Justice Minister Teresa Cheng Yuek-wah came under mounting pressure on Thursday as Hong Kong’s two major legal bodies called on her to fully explain the government’s decision to drop investigations against former city leader Leung Chun-ying over a HK$50 million (US$6 million) payment.
The Bar Association and the Law Society, representing the city’s barristers and solicitors respectively, separately urged Cheng to clarify if the Department of Justice (DOJ) had changed its policy in seeking outside legal opinion on certain cases, when prosecutors previously did so to dispel possible bias or conflict of interest.
After being away and not commenting for 10 days, Cheng finally broke her silence on Wednesday and defended the DOJ’s move, insisting there was no need to seek external legal opinion unless the case “involved a member of the DOJ”.
But in two papers to lawmakers in December 2017 and February this year, the DOJ listed a total of six scenarios for “briefing out” – the use of external counsel – on criminal and civil cases.
The scenarios covered situations where DOJ personnel were involved, and others where it was “deemed appropriate … so as to address possible perception of bias or issues of conflict of interests”.
