Court Clears Review Bid Over Audrey Eu Complaint
On.cc · 2 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
The High Court has granted leave for the Hong Kong Bar Association’s judicial review challenge to proceed after a Bar disciplinary tribunal ruled in June that a professional misconduct complaint against barrister Audrey Eu was not established. The court website shows the substantive hearing of the originating summons is set for November 9 and is expected to last 180 minutes.
Key Points
- Judge Ouyang Kwai-yue granted permission on September 10 for the judicial review application brought by the Bar Association’s executive committee
- The proposed respondents are the Bar disciplinary tribunal made up of Senior Counsel Katherine Kwan, barrister Chiu Chi-wan, and Sze Lai-shan, while Audrey Eu is listed as an interested party.
- Court filings say Eu became a barrister in 1988 and practised until December 31 last year, before retiring from practice
- Eu was convicted over the August 18, 2019 unauthorized assembly and was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment, suspended for 24 months.
- The Bar Association argues the tribunal made a fundamental legal error by finding the complaint unsubstantiated and asks the court to overturn that ruling.
Why It Matters
The case will test how far a criminal conviction arising from public protest conduct can amount to professional misconduct for a practising barrister under Hong Kong’s regulatory framework. It also matters because the Bar Association says correcting the tribunal’s alleged legal error remains in the public interest even though Eu retired at the end of last year