ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the role of lawyers as activists beyond the courtroom as defenders of the rule of law. Since Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, the Central People’s Government in Beijing have made several controversial interventions in Hong Kong’s legal and political affairs. While Hong Kong’s rights-based legal framework has allowed for public interest lawyering in the courtroom, in recent years, Hong Kong’s legal community, including solicitors, barristers, and legal academics, have taken activism and organising beyond the courtroom. In response to Beijing’s encroachment on judicial affairs, Hong Kong’s legal community have quietly demonstrated their discontent in highly symbolic public spaces through a series of silent marches. Drawing on personal reflections of the 2016 silent march, this chapter considers recent legal developments, including the enforcement of the National Security Law and its implications for lawyer activists as they navigate Hong Kong’s changing sociopolitical and legal landscape.
