As of the end of February 2016, there were around 13,000 lawyers, including solicitors and barristers, in Hong Kong. 9,925 of them were solicitors with 65% of them in the private practice and more than 2,000 of them holding a lawyer’s practice certificate without private practice.1,323 lawyers from 31 different jurisdictions were also practicing within the territory. Among practicing lawyers, there were more males than females, of which 53% were males and 47% were females. However, this is not the same for trainees, female trainees took up to 60% while males accounted for 40%.

There are currently more than 1,300 barristers in Hong Kong, with 96 of them being senior counsels. Dr Henry Hu Hung-lick is the longest practicing lawyer in Hong Kong, who has been practicing for 62 years since 1954. His contribution to Hong Kong’s legal field deserves our utmost respect.

So, are Hong Kong lawyers examined or vetted every year?

Let’s take solicitors as an example. Solicitors in Hong Kong are managed by the Law Society of Hong Kong, founded in 1907. The Law Society of Hong Kong is a fully autonomous organization with over 110 years of history that manages solicitors. The elected council of the Law Society of Hong Kong bears a huge and important responsibility in professional standards and ethics of Hong Kong lawyers.

The Legal Practitioners Ordinance grants the Law Society decision-making powers regarding practice approval of solicitors. The Law Society is also empowered to:
 
1. Issue annual practicing certificates and certificates of registration to Hong Kong solicitors, foreign lawyers and foreign law firms.
2. Investigate and refer allegations of professional misconduct to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
3. Intervene in a solicitor’s practice in cases of dishonesty, undue delay, bankruptcy or other causes.
4. Establish rules for the conduct and education of solicitors and trainee solicitors.
5. Arrange and maintain a compulsory Professional Indemnity Scheme.
 
From my personal experience, no matter how long you have practiced in Hong Kong, or whether you are a partner in a law firm, you must attend continuing professional development (CPD) courses every year. Therefore, it is not uncommon to see old, seasoned senior lawyers attending these CPD courses. It is very easy and convenient to attend these courses as they are available almost every week. It is entirely up to a lawyer to choose what to study and when to study, except compulsory courses like legal risk management. In addition to compulsory courses, there are a variety of electives to choose from, which are all about practical skills.

At present, lawyers are only required to complete 16 credits of CPD courses every year. To put simply, as long as there is no intentional criminal act of the lawyer, the lawyer’s practicing qualifications and the issuance of the practicing certificate will not be affected. If violations are found, the lawyers will be punished in accordance with the disciplinary procedures by way of warnings, fines, etc.

If one has completed 16 credits of training courses, the Law Society of Hong Kong will issue a practicing certificate for the next year. The certificate is usually issued once a year with the certificate being valid from 1st January to 31st December of a certain year. Every practicing solicitor has to pay HKD $6,300 to the Law Society of Hong Kong (HK$5,500+HK$800 for the solicitor’s membership card). In addition, every practicing solicitor has to take out an insurance policy for professional negligence. The policy is usually taken out by the employer. If one practices alone, he may also take out a policy for himself so that in the event of facing professional negligence claims, the insurance company may help with satisfying a portion of the claim amount.

It is estimated that the Law Society may receive up to 60-70 million Hong Kong dollars every year. The income received are used to maintain the operation of its services, such as the Hong Kong Law Society Library, where lawyers can borrow expensive law books.

At present, there are nearly 20 members in the council of the Law Society and they are all unpaid for their work therein. Rumors are that a proposal for remunerating these council members was passed but no council member proceeded to exercise their rights. With most of the council members being senior partners in various firms, needless to say they already enjoy hefty incomes.

To sum up, as long as a solicitor completes the 16-credit professional training course every year, does not commit crimes intentionally and pays his annual fee, his practicing qualifications will not be affected.
So, do these requirements constitute “vetting”? It really depends on how “vetting” is defined.

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