University of Hong Kong cancels talk by UK lawyer Timothy Owen barred from representing Jimmy Lai in collusion trial
- Law faculty website shows lecture titled ‘Judges, Democracy and the Criminal Law’ originally slated for Friday has been cancelled
- Owen was due to discuss ‘growing threats to judicial independence and the rule of law’
Hong Kong’s oldest university has abruptly cancelled a talk by British barrister Timothy Owen, who has been barred from representing jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying in a collusion trial.
The website of the University of Hong Kong’s law faculty on Tuesday showed the lecture titled “Judges, Democracy and the Criminal Law” originally slated to be delivered by King’s Counsel Owen on Friday had been cancelled, with no explanation given.
In response to Post inquiries, the faculty presented an email sent to event participants saying the lecture had been cancelled because of “unforeseen circumstances”.
According to the event page on the site, Owen was due to discuss “the growing threats to judicial independence and the rule of law with particular focus on the administration of criminal justice” in the lecture, co-organised by the university and legal firm Boase Cohen & Collins.
“He identifies the key requirements necessary to uphold the rule of law in the area where tension between the right of the individual citizen to a fair trial and the popular desire to convict the guilty demands public confidence in the impartiality of the judges who preside at trial and on appeal in order that a fair balance is maintained,” the site said.
Last October, the High Court approved allowing Owen to defend Lai, the founder of the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper, against charges of collusion with foreign forces, brushing aside objections by the Department of Justice. The verdict was upheld by the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal.
