Junius Kwan-yiu Ho found not to have incited violence during public meeting
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has rejected allegations of professional misconduct against Hong Kong’s former Law Society president.
Junius Kwan-yiu Ho, 58, who is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales, had been pursued by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) over comments he allegedly made during the course of a public meeting as well as posts made on Facebook.
Ho was alleged to have called for pro-independence supporters to be “killed”, and that this should be done “mercilessly” while speaking from the platform of a rally he organised in Hong Kong in 2017.
The regulator said the remarks “were capable of being perceived as inciting violence against opponents” and/or “were capable of causing offence”.
Finding that all the SRA’s allegations against Ho were not proved, the SDT said Ho’s words were “not capable of being reasonably perceived as inciting violence”.
The SDT considered a range of expert evidence in reaching its decision, including the Cantonese to English translation of the alleged words spoken by Ho.
Ho is a senior partner at local firm K.C. Ho & Fong but is also qualified in England and Wales. He studied law at the Chelmer Institute of Higher Education, now part of Anglia Ruskin University.
The SRA applied for costs of just under £65,000, and counsel for Ho applied for a contribution to its costs of over £130,700. The tribunal made no order for costs, on the basis that the prosecution had been properly brought and reasonably pursued.