Hong Kong Secretary for Justice visits Canada

October 6th, 2009

The Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr Wong Yan Lung, SC, today (October 6, Ottawa time) began a three-day visit to Ottawa and Toronto to strengthen ties with Canada and promote Hong Kong as a dispute resolution centre for the Asia Pacific.

He is meeting senior legal and judicial figures, as well as representatives of the legal profession, business sector and non-governmental organisations, to brief them on the rule of law situation in Hong Kong, and the latest developments in Hong Kong’s role as a regional centre for international arbitration.
In Ottawa today, he attended a roundtable luncheon to exchange views on Hong Kong’s latest developments with members of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Ottawa) and Canada-Hong Kong Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Mr Wong also met with the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Mr Robert Douglas Nicholson, and Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin of the Supreme Court of Canada.

On Wednesday (October 7) Mr Wong will first have a roundtable breakfast hosted by the Canadian Council of International Law and later meet with the Legal Adviser to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Mr Alan Kessel, before leaving for Toronto in the afternoon.

Arriving in Toronto, he will call on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario to obtain first-hand information on their best practices on arbitration and mediation.

On Thursday (October 8), Mr Wong will deliver a speech on ¡§Hong Kong’s Legal System and International Links: Your Springboard to China and Asia Pacific Region¡¨ at a luncheon hosted by the Canadian Club of Toronto and supported by Hong Kong-Canada Business Association (Toronto).

He will also meet with the Attorney General of Ontario, Mr Chris Bentley, hold meetings with representatives of the Ontario Bar Association and Law Society of Upper Canada, and visit St Stephen’s Community House Mediation Service.

Mr Wong will depart for Hong Kong on Friday (October 9).

Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice, Mr Wong Yan Lung (right), SC, speaking at a roundtable organized by the Ottawa Section of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association and the Canada-Hong Kong Parliamentary Friendship Group. Sitting next to him is the Hon Gord Brown, Member of Parliament and Chair of the Friendship Group, and Ms Maureen Siu, Director of Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Canada.

Hong Kong's Secretary for Justice, Mr Wong Yan Lung (left), SC, is presented a souvenir book by Ian Stauffer, President of the County of Carleton Law Association, at the Ottawa roundtable.

Mr Wong Yan Lung, SC, Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, accompanied by Ms Maureen Siu, Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, meet with Mr Robert D. Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (pictured). Wong briefs Nicholson on the rule of law situation in Hong Kong and updates him on the latest developments in Hong Kong's role as a regional centre for international arbitration for the Asia Pacific region.

Mr Wong Yan Lung, SC, Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, accompanied by Ms Maureen Siu, Director of Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Canada, meet with Ms Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Canada, and Mr Justice Marshall Rothstein on October 6, first day of Wong's three-day visit to Canada. Wong briefs McLachlin and Rothstein on the latest efforts in Hong Kong's role as a regional centre for international arbitration in the Asia Pacific region. He also answers questions raised by the Canadian Supreme Justices on the rule of law situation in Hong Kong. Photo shows Secretary Wong presenting a souvenir to Ms Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Canada.

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For more information, please contact: Stephen Siu, Assistant Director (Public Relations) of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office at: (416)456-8293 or email: [email protected] or Elison Chu, Senior Information Officer at (416)924-7374 or email: [email protected]

Chinese version on next page.

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