Armed with a hard lesson, Ambrose Lam pushes lawyers

Ambrose Lam San-keung, who is running for the legal functional constituency in this month's Legislative Council elections, says he has learned a lesson after his praise of the Chinese Communist Party cost him the Law Society presidency in 2014.

Lam had said on radio that the CCP was "great" for its efforts in guiding China into a new era and making it an influential country in the global arena.

His remarks sparked widespread criticism within the sector, and the society passed a no-confidence motion against him as its chairman and a motion calling for a retraction of his remarks.

Lam now tells The Standard he had not been sensitive then, so the "turbulence" he created ended with society members initiating a special meeting.

"I resigned to avoid the legal sector being more divided," he said, though "I still have the passion to serve the profession as I have benefited a lot from it."

And after he "learned his lesson" he made improvements in himself.

If given the chance to be on that radio program again, he said, "I would definitely elaborate on my view more clearly to provide a fuller idea of my words.

"So elected I will [show] I have learned from experience and explain clearly the bills and laws that affect the people while also speaking for them strongly and loudly."

Lam, a solicitor, also said he would help young lawyers in the mainland market.

"As the legal market is shrinking I am hoping to be a bridge to help young barristers and solicitors explore the huge China market through making good use of my connections in the mainland."

Lam also suggested solicitors expand their scope in covering arbitration, the green economy and marine and aviation matters.

Apart from helping the legal sector, Lam will also focus on livelihood matters for the legal sector, including housing.

"One of my areas of practice is [property] project development," he said, "and I hope to use my expertise to speed up the legal process to enable developers to launch units as soon as possible.

"I hope to help with simplifying procedures to sell ancestral land, which will allow a more efficient use of land and benefit New Territories residents."

Procedures within the Town Planning Board should also be revamped to speed the process of changing land use, he added.

In terms of changes he would like to bring to the judiciary, Lam said he would like to see Hong Kong courts go electronic.

"Not only will this be more convenient - it will also be more environmentally friendly. The existing infrastructure can support it. Countries like Singapore have been doing it for years."

But that would involve amendments to laws, he said, so he would help with amendments if elected.

Lam is running against legal scholar Louis Chen Xiaofeng of City University of Hong Kong.