| |
Christian lawyers pray together as new legal year opens
Publish Date: 16-Jan-2018
St Thomas More Society, a group consisting Catholic and Protestant lawyers, organised an annual service on 8 January to mark the opening of the legal year at St Joseph’s Church in Central. The ecumenical service was led by John Cardinal Tong Hon and Archbishop Paul Kwong as officiants while Fr Miguel Diez from Opus Dei preached the sermon. Mr Geoffrey Ma, the chief justice of the Court of Final Appeal, delivered the first reading; Mr Martin Lee, veteran politician and barrister, led the responsorial psalm; and Mr Andrew Cheung, the chief judge of the High Court, read the second reading. On the same day, legal practitioners gathered at Hong Kong City Hall to participate in the ceremonial opening of the legal year 2018. In the opening speech, Mr Ma talked about the link between the common law system and Hong Kong: “The legal system in Hong Kong is the common law system. This system has been in place for nearly 180 years and has served the community by contributing to Hong Kong's success over the years. This is a system that has been regarded as being appropriate for our community.” He has also stressed that the only factor on which judges rely to reach their verdicts is none other than the law: “Courts and judges are concerned only with the law and the legal issues which arise in any dispute to be determined by them. It is not relevant to adjudicate on political, economic or social issues as such without reference to the law. In particular, political or other affiliations or biases are simply not relevant at all, whether in favour of or detrimental to the person involved.”
|
|