LCQ13: Secretary for Justice’s visits outside Hong Kong
Following is a question by the Hon Lam San-keung and a written reply by the Secretary for Justice, Mr Paul Lam, SC, in the Legislative Council today (January 22):
Question:
​It is learnt that the Secretary for Justice (SJ) has made multiple visits outside Hong Kong since July 2022 to actively promote Hong Kong's legal services to the international community while creating more opportunities for the legal sector to deepen co-operation, thereby enabling Hong Kong to play a greater role in the overall development of the country. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the number of visits made by SJ outside Hong Kong so far since July 2022; under which names such visits have been conducted and the expenses incurred; and
(2) given that the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan has established Hong Kong's positioning as centres for development in eight key areas (i.e. the international financial centre, international innovation and technology centre, East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, international trade centre, international transportation centre, international aviation hub, centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in Asia-Pacific region, and regional intellectual property trading centre), of the respective weightings given to such centres for development in key areas when SJ promotes them during his visits outside Hong Kong?
Reply:
President,
Concerning the question raised by the Hon Lam San-keung, our consolidated reply is as follows:
The Secretary for Justice has been committed to tell the good and accurate stories of Hong Kong through duty visits, promoting the unique strengths of Hong Kong's common law system and the solid and robust foundation of the rule of law under "one country, two systems", so as to establish Hong Kong as the centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Secretary for Justice has conducted a total of 23 duty visits since July 2022, involving a total expenditure of nearly HK$1,000,000.