Hong Kong's law graduates deserve fair chance to enter profession
John Chan says having overseas lawyers practise in Hong Kong benefits the city, but local graduates must be given the same chances
Every April, the Law Society opens application to overseas lawyers who wish to sit the qualifying examination to become solicitors in Hong Kong. The society held its first Overseas Lawyers Qualifying Examination in 1995. Between 1996 and 2013, Hong Kong saw a total of 8,073 newly admitted solicitors. Among them, 1,672 - or about one in five - were overseas lawyers.
Take the figures from just 2009 to 2013, and the proportion of foreign solicitors becomes more than one in four.
It is generally accepted that having lawyers from diverse backgrounds benefits the legal profession as well as the economy of Hong Kong. Overseas lawyers contribute by bringing not just their talent, but also their clients. So while Hong Kong welcomes overseas lawyers, we should ask if local law graduates are given a similarly fair chance of entering the profession.
Currently, local Bachelor of Laws graduates who trained in local or foreign universities and graduates of the Juris Doctor programme can practise as solicitors or barristers only if they successfully complete a one-year Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) programme offered at three local universities.
Many more law graduates apply than are accepted. For the three academic years up to 2013, the average acceptance rate was less than 45 per cent. In other words, every year, 1,200 to 1,500 law graduates compete for fewer than 700 PCLL places.
Compare this situation with that in England and Wales, where 27 institutions are offering more than 10,600 Legal Practice Course places to law graduates who wish to become solicitors and 12 institutions are offering over 2,200 Bar Practising Training Course places to law graduates who wish to become barristers. The number of those who took up these courses was substantially fewer than the places offered.