Liberal HKU academic throws hat in ring for Hong Kong Law Society council seat

An outspoken law academic announced his decision on Thursday to run for a council seat on Hong Kong’s solicitors body, raising the prospect of another liberal shift in the city’s legal community following the Bar Association’s leadership change earlier this year.

Eric Cheung Tat-ming, a principal lecturer at the University of Hong Kong’s law school, said he had hoped to promote a pro-bono ethos among members and to speak out in a “firm, dignified and yet non-confrontational manner” when the city’s rule of law was threatened.

Five seats in the Law Society’s 20-member council are up for grabs at the end of this month when the group’s more than 10,000 members pick their choice out of nine candidates.

“A lot of Hongkongers currently are feeling a sense of helplessness,” Cheung said. “By running in the election, I hope I would encourage more people not to give up and to stand fast in their roles, especially the younger generation.”

Cheung’s bid for the council, which is seen as less outspoken than the barrister body, comes after leading human rights lawyer Philip Dykes was elected as chairman of the Bar Association in January, replacing an incumbent who was perceived as less liberal.