The Clinical Legal Education (“CLE”) course which runs the Free Legal Advice Scheme on HKU campus (“our Scheme”) under the umbrella of the Duty Lawyer Service is delighted to share news of another successful appeal. The defendant of HCCC 210/2020 was charged with two counts of trafficking in dangerous drugs. In 2019, Mr Eric Cheung (“Eric”) was assigned as the duty lawyer for the defendant during the committal proceedings. The case was referred to our Scheme and the defendant sought assistance through her mother while in custody. Eric was later assigned on legal aid as the instructing solicitor from ONC Lawyers at trial. The jury acquitted the defendant of the first count but convicted her of the second. She was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment. For the defendant’s background and the trial judge’s reasons for sentence, see [2022] HKCFI 1651.
On appeal in CACC 66/2022, Eric continued to represent the defendant, this time in his capacity as solicitor advocate from ONC Lawyers, on a pro bono basis, with the assistance of junior counsel Mr Anthony Lai and Ms Christie Lee, and the assistance of CLE students of our Scheme. In September 2024, the Court of Appeal allowed the defendant’s appeal, quashed her conviction and set aside her sentence: see [2024] HKCA 872.
Eric retired in September 2024. The CLE team congratulates Eric on his last appellate success before his retirement and thanks him for over a decade of dedication to developing the CLE course at HKU and supervising numerous cohorts of CLE students and colleagues since 2010. We wish him a happy retirement. Here is Eric with a retirement gift from the defendant’s mother (her drawing of Eric in court):
About Clinical Legal Education at HKU
The CLE course was launched in January 2010 as the first live-client clinical legal education programme in Hong Kong. Our Scheme offers free preliminary legal advice to members of the public facing legal problems involving the laws of Hong Kong.
As of October 2024, we have handled over 2,900 cases and trained over 1,000 students, with over 200 volunteer lawyers on our panel.
The Faculty remains committed to providing quality experiential learning for its law students across all years. We offer law students opportunities to gain exposure through observing civil and criminal appeal hearings, as well as developing practical lawyering skills through interviewing real clients and conducting legal research, all under the guidance and supervision of CLE teachers and qualified lawyers.
For more information about our efforts in serving the public and providing quality education to our students, please visit our website and follow us on Facebook.