China's top lawmaking body has given Hong Kong leader John Lee the power to bar foreign lawyers from national security cases, removing the decision from the city's courts, in a move likely to further fuel concerns over judicial independence.
The use of foreign lawyers by both prosecutors and the defence have long been part of the former British colony's rule of law traditions.
Critics say Beijing's intervention in this landmark legal case undermines Hong Kong's judicial independence, after a panel of three senior judges on the city's Court of Final Appeal in November rejected a government bid to block Owen from representing Lai. Under the national security law, the decisions made by the committee cannot be challenged by a judicial review.
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