I am very honoured to be elected Bar Chairman for the year 2021. I will try my best to live up to the trust our members have placed in me.

I am fortunate to inherit from the previous Bar Council a much improved situation with regard to publicly funded remuneration. Arrangements for training and for complaints and disciplinary matters also appear to be working well. I anticipate that it will be third part of the Bar Council’s role, defending the rule of law, which will need to be my main focus in the coming year.

I am very grateful to have the assistance of two able Vice Chairs, Anita Yip SC and Erik Shum; to Johnny Ma and Eugene Yim for agreeing to be Honorary Secretary and Deputy Honorary Secretary, and to all who have agreed to serve on the 2021 Bar Council.

As we all know, Hong Kong is a deeply divided society at present, in part as a result of the events of 2019. I intend to be a chairman for all members of the Bar, irrespective of political outlook, and my aim will be to take forward, with the agreement and support of the Council, policies around which I hope most members of the Bar can unite.

I have always been deeply committed to the rule of law. For that reason I opposed the violent protests which shook Hong Kong in the second half of 2019. I will continue to oppose that kind of lawlessness, but will equally oppose abuse of power by those in power. At the risk of stating the obvious, the rule of law does not just mean that people should obey the law, it means that the law must be obeyed by everyone, with no exceptions, and applies to those in authority as it applies to the rest of us.

In my view the 2020 Hong Kong National Security Law is not consistent with the rule of law. I am not against the principle of having national security laws, which most countries have for legitimate reasons. But the Hong Kong NSL excludes certain officials from all legal challenge for their actions. That is one of several controversial provisions it contains which appear to be irreconcilable with the rights guaranteed to us by the Basic Law. Last year I carried out a detailed study of these provisions and I would be glad to provide a copy to any members who are interested.

During my year in office I hope to explore whether there is any hope of persuading the Government to modify or limit the operation of the NSL so as to remove these objectionable features, to the extent that the jurisdictions which have suspended their extradition arrangements with Hong Kong are willing to end that suspension. That must surely be an objective every law abiding person would share. No-one wants murderers, for example, to be able to evade justice by moving from London to Hong Kong or vice versa, as is the case at present, and will be even more so when the current COVID-19 19 restrictions end.

I hope that I will also be able to take forward rule of law related proposals in other areas. I am very concerned, for example, by the number of Law Commission reports which have not been implemented despite the hard work put into preparing them, and this is a matter I intend to raise with the Secretary for Justice.

I am always interested in constructive proposals, and my door will be always open to discuss any matter which any member wishes to raise with me - - subject to the periodic demands which will inevitably be placed on my time by urgent matters.

Many of you already know me, as I have been a Hong Kong barrister since 1993. If you do not know me, I very much look forward to meeting you in the coming year.

Willing you all a very happy, healthy and successful Year of the Ox!

Paul Harris SC
Chairman