Teresa Cheng defends appointing legal officers as senior counsels

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah defended the proposal of appointing legal officers of Department of Justice, including solicitors, as senior counsels, saying that it won’t change the requirements of qualifying senior counsels. 

Cheng spoke of the matter today after attending a Legislative Council meeting, and said that the department disagreed on amending qualification requirements of senior counsels as well. 

She stressed that candidates would still have to be experienced, highly reputed, skillful and knowledgeable, so they would be appointed as senior counsels. 

The appointment is made by the chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal, chair of the Bar Association and president of the Law Society. 

Currently only barristers can be promoted to senior counsels. Cheng explained that the proposal aimed to recognise legal officers the same way barristers are recognised. 

She added that if legal officers left the department for private practice, they cannot keep the title of senior counsel anymore. 

Cheng also pointed out both solicitors and barristers will be sent to courts to argue cases. However she was sometimes troubled by seeing some solicitors not getting their recognition even when they do a better job than barristers. 

She added her determination to change the system was triggered by seeing Vinci Lam Wing-sai being promoted to senior counsel in May. Lam was previously admitted as a solicitor and qualified as a barrister last year.