Nurturing legal talent via secondment

2024-11-24 14:40 Last Updated At：14:41

To boost Hong Kong as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre, the Department of Justice (DoJ) nurtures legal talent to empower them to become well-versed in international law via secondment programmes.

Hong Kong practising barrister Kevin Lau, who has developed a broad civil practice and a deep interest in international law, embarked on a unique professional journey through the DoJ’s secondment programme last year.

“As a private legal practitioner in Hong Kong, it is actually not that easy to find many opportunities to work consistently on international law. So, when the opportunity for the secondment arose, I simply took the plunge and clicked the 'yes' button,” he said.

Mr Lau served as a legal officer at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, or UNIDROIT, in Rome, Italy.

Throughout his six-month secondment, he concentrated on conducting legal research, co-ordinating work meetings, and navigating a steep learning curve.

Widening horizons

Assigned to UNIDROIT Deputy Secretary-General Anna Veneziano, Mr Lau focused on the Best Practices for Effective Enforcement project.

He portrayed it as an interesting research task because he had the unique opportunity of exploring the laws of different jurisdictions on enforcing court judgments.

Mr Lau noted that UNIDROIT works in many different fields, dealing with concepts and issues that may not be familiar to lawyers in Hong Kong, such as laws related to agricultural development.

“Like the law concerning agricultural products and how they are stored in warehouses and how the warehouse receipts can be commoditised.

“So, there is a lot of very quick catch up that you have to do in order not to get lost when you are thrown into the crucible,” he explained.

Mr Lau expressed that there were colleagues from diverse nationalities, for example the US, Brazil and Germany, describing the work environment as huge cultural exchanges.

He saw the greatest benefit of the secondment as broadening horizons, believing it is beneficial for both career and personal growth.

“It is just the whole perspective of trying to come to grips with the values, or how people see things in Italy. My Italian friends really taught me about the value of being still and chill.

“There is really no universally better practice, right? So, there is always something you can learn from one another,” he added.

Mr Lau also paid more attention to the latest dynamics worldwide, such as the popular legal debates across Europe, which he believes will help him to excel in his practice in Hong Kong.

Significant contributions

On the day of this interview, Mr Lau moderated a panel discussion, at Hong Kong Legal Week 2024, with one of the guest speakers being UNIDROIT Secretary-General Ignacio Tirado, whom he worked under during his secondment.

Prof Tirado hailed the secondment arrangement with the DoJ as a success, recognising the contributions made by Hong Kong legal professionals.

“Their abilities are fantastic, and they have helped us so much in very different projects, from the enforcement of the Cape Town Convention to international commercial contracts to digital assets.

“They can bring their expertise from one of the world's leading legal and financial centres. They bring a common law culture, which is also used to grappling with the differences of other legal communities, like civil law cultures as well,” Prof Tirado explained as he expressed his wish to welcome more secondees from Hong Kong in future.”

Dream-fulfilling experience

“When I was very young, my father took me to visit international organisations such as the United Nations in Switzerland. So, this seed of a dream has been rooted in my heart since then.”

Hong Kong solicitor Beryl Wu realised her childhood aspiration when she became the first private practitioner seconded to the Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, or HCCH, in The Hague, the Netherlands.

She described the six-month journey as a valuable experience as she immersed herself in the transnational litigation team's work and jurisdiction projects.

“Members from different countries come together to discuss the provisions for future conventions in relation to parallel litigations in commercial matters.

“For private practice lawyers, it is a rare opportunity for us to observe the workings behind the drafting and negotiation of an international convention. So, this has been an eye-opening experience for myself.”

Crucial opportunity

The DoJ’s secondment programmes to UNIDROIT and HCCH are open to legal professionals from both the public and private sectors.

It also has secondment arrangements with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, or UNCITRAL, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, or AIIB, exclusively for government counsels.

Department of Justice Legal Enhancement & Development Office Assistant Principal Government Counsel Kwok Hin, a secondee to UNCITRAL and AIIB, worked in Incheon, Korea, and Beijing.

She provided legal advice and participated in negotiations on legislative amendments to international commercial transactions as well as the Bank's internal legal framework.

Miss Kwok said the secondment experience has enhanced her adaptability and communication skills, helping her to quickly integrate into new tasks and effectively express opinions in a multicultural setting.

“Most importantly, the secondment has pushed me out of my comfort zone to explore new possibilities.”

Miss Kwok emphasised the department’s commitment to promoting secondment programmes, nurturing local legal professionals, and offering continuous training.

“So far, over 20 local legal talents have participated in the secondment programmes.

“By participating in the work of these organisations, local legal talent could gain invaluable knowledge of the operation of international organisations, broaden their horizons through working with international law experts, and insert a Hong Kong perspective in shaping the development of international law.”

The dizzying array of legal threats to Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro

2024-11-23 05:28 Last Updated At：05:30

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been a target for investigations since his early days in office, and the swarm of cases since his failed reelection bid in 2022 has left him in ever-deeper legal jeopardy.

In the latest development Thursday, he was formally accused of attempting a coup to keep himself in the presidency. In another case, the electoral court ruled the far-right leader ineligible to run for office until 2030.

There are dozens of other probes that could produce criminal charges at low-level courts, where he could appeal any eventual conviction. But the country's Supreme Court will have the final say regarding more than five in-depth investigations, including into the alleged coup attempt, which could land the former president behind bars or under house arrest.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing in all of the cases, and his allies have alleged they are political persecution, while recognizing the severity of the legal risks on multiple fronts.

Here's a look at the biggest threats and where they stand:

Federal police on Thursday formally accused Bolsonaro and 36 others for allegedly attempting a coup to keep him in office after his defeat in the 2022 elections. The accusation is sealed, but among other things authorities had been investigating whether he incited the Jan. 8, 2022 riot in which his followers ransacked the Supreme Court and presidential palace in the capital of Brasilia.

STATUS: Police sent their findings to Brazil’s Supreme Court, which will refer them to Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet. He will either formally charge Bolsonaro and put him on trial, or toss the investigation.

Brazil’s highest electoral court in June ruled that Bolsonaro used government communication channels in a meeting with diplomats to promote his reelection bid and sow distrust about the vote. The case focused on a meeting the prior year, during which Bolsonaro used government staffers, the state television channel and the presidential palace in Brasilia to tell foreign ambassadors that the country’s electronic voting system was rigged. The ruling rendered him ineligible for office until 2030, although he has insisted that he will run in the 2026 race.

The court also found that Bolsonaro abused his power during Brazil’s Independence Day festivities, a month before the election. The ruling didn’t add years to Bolsonaro’s ineligibility, but made any appeal less likely to succeed. A third case is also pending at the court.

STATUS: Bolsonaro’s appeal of the initial ruling was denied.

Bolsonaro has been formally accused of directing an official to tamper with a public health database to make it appear as though he and his 12-year-old daughter had received the COVID-19 vaccine in order to bypass U.S. entry requirements. During the pandemic, he railed against the vaccine, characterized the choice to receive a shot as a matter of personal freedom and has repeatedly said he never did so.

The Federal Police accused Bolsonaro of criminal association and inserting false data into public records, which carry maximum penalties of 4 and 12 years in prison, respectively. It was the first formal accusation against him since he left office.

STATUS: Brazil's Supreme Court sent the accusation to the prosecutor-general, who is weighing whether to use it to press charges. Local media reported that he was seeking to consult American authorities about whether Bolsonaro used the forged document to enter the country, and that having done so could result in U.S. legal action.

Federal Police have probed whether Bolsonaro directed officials to smuggle luxury jewelry worth millions into Brazil from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, then acted to prevent them from being incorporated into the presidential collection and instead retain ownership for himself.

Investigators summoned Bolsonaro for questioning in April and August of 2023. He has returned the jewelry in question.

STATUS: The Federal Police formally accused Bolsonaro of money laundering and criminal association, according to a source with knowledge of the accusations. A second source confirmed the accusation, although not for which specific crimes. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

Brazil’s Federal Police is investigating Bolsonaro for inciting crimes against public health during the COVID-19 pandemic, which include encouraging people not to wear masks and causing alarm about non-existent danger of vaccines accelerating development of AIDS. A Senate inquiry commission also spent months investigating his pandemic-era actions and decisions, and recommended nine criminal charges.

Brazil’s former prosecutor-general Augusto Aras, widely seen as a Bolsonaro ally, decided not to file any charges based on the lawmakers' findings. They have urged Aras' successor to reopen the case.

STATUS: The investigation is ongoing.

Brazil's Supreme Court in 2020 ordered an investigation into a network allegedly spreading defamatory fake news and threats against Supreme Court justices. The probe has yielded the imprisonment of lawmakers from the former president's circle and raids of his supporters' homes. In 2021, Bolsonaro was included as a target.

As an offshoot of that probe, the Federal Police is also investigating whether a group operating inside Bolsonaro’s presidential palace produced social media content aimed at undermining the rule of law. The group, allegedly comprised of aides and Bolsonaro’s politician son, has been widely referred to as a digital militia and “the hate cabinet.”

STATUS: Both investigations are ongoing.

Biller reported from Rio de Janeiro