RESTRICTED
XCR(92)11
5
The Ordinance provides the statutory framework for the admission, regulation and discipline of barristers and solicitors in Hong Kong. It does not provide for the admission and regulation of foreign lawyers or foreign law firms.
6
The problems relating to the regulation of foreign lawyers and foreign law firms in Hong Kong date back to the early 1970s. An informal procedure was agreed between the Law Society, the then Attorney General and the Immigration Department, for foreign lawyers and foreign law firms to enter into an arrangement with the Law Society for the regulation of their foreign law practice in Hong Kong. Under the present informal procedure, the Law Society issues administrative guidelines specifying the terms on which these lawyers and law firms are permitted to practise in Hong Kong.
7
On 1 February 1977, after considering memorandum XCR(77)25,
the Council ADVISED and the Governor ORDERED -
8
(a)
(b)
that overseas law firms should be entitled to practise law in Hong Kong subject only to the requirements that -
(i) they must not contravene the Legal Practitioners
Ordinance;
(ii) they must not profess in any way to be qualified Hong Kong lawyers or advertise themselves as such;
(iii) they observe local professional standards of
conduct; and
that the Law Society should continue to be involved in the regulatory procedures affecting overseas law firms.
Over the years the number of foreign lawyers and foreign law firms in Hong Kong has increased and the trend is for increasing numbers in the future. Currently, there are about 160 foreign lawyers and 30 foreign law firms in Hong Kong. The informal procedure is not satisfactory to the Law Society because foreign lawyers or foreign law firms are not subject to their rules regulating professional conduct, ethics
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