Lawyers in Hong Kong hold rally over ruling

HUNDREDS of lawyers and law students, all dressed in black, marched silently through Hong Kong yesterday in protest at a ruling by China which effectively bars two pro-independence legislators from taking office.

They snaked peacefully through the city from the high court to the court of final appeal after the unprecedented decision Monday, which has shaken semi-autonomous Hong Kong’s faith in the rule of law.

Beijing’s ruling preempted a decision by the Hong Kong courts over whether two young lawmakers should be disqualified from parliament after deliberately misreading their oaths of office, inserting expletives and draping themselves with “Hong Kong is not China” flags.

China’s intervention has been slammed by the city’s pro-democracy camp and legal circles as unwarranted and a massive blow to Hong Kong’s cherished judicial independence.

The city was handed back to China by Britain in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” deal which protects its freedoms for 50 years, but there are growing concerns those liberties are disappearing.

“It’s very damaging to ‘one country, two systems’ and rule of law,” said legislator Dennis Kwok, who represents the legal sector. “I don’t accept this as part of the norm in Hong Kong,” said Kwok, who estimated more than 2,000 people had taken part in the march.