London set urged tenants to exercise restraint over China-related social media posts, leaked email reveals
30 April 2021
36 Group warned of detrimental impact given significant links with Asia
By danielo; Shutterstock Leading London set of chambers 36 Group urged its tenants to exercise the ‘greatest caution’ when commenting on social media about the sanctions imposed by China against Essex Court Chambers, it has emerged. A leaked email sent on behalf of the set’s executive board – published today by news site Roll on Friday – warns tenants of the potential impact of negative comments about China on Asia work being carried out by some of their colleagues.
Matthew Gearing QC, a former co-head of Allen & Overy’s global arbitration group, and a former chair of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), is set to join Fountain Court Chambers on May 3.
In January, the UK’s Essex Court Chambers had announced that Gearing would be joining it. However, since then, Essex Court was sanctioned by the Chinese government over a Jan. 26 legal opinion penned by the four members of the chambers on the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
Gearing is presently at Allen & Overy, where he spent more than two decades, becoming a partner in 2005. He took Silk in 2014.
By Jemma Slingo2021-04-27T10:37:00+01:00
Barristers across the British Isles have condemned China’s ‘bullying and punitive measures’ against lawyers in the wake of a legal opinion concerning alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur population.
The Bar Councils of England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Ireland, together with Scotland’s Faculty of Advocates, said China had launched an ‘indiscriminate attack’ on lawyers which was ‘inconsistent with respect for the rule of law’.
Last month, the Chinese government imposed sanctions against Essex Court Chambers after four members gave a legal opinion relating to issues arising from alleged human rights violations by the Chinese authorities against the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang Province. Several barristers, including senior QCs, have since moved chambers.
UK and Ireland bar associations team up to condemn China s sanctions on Essex Court Chambers
27 April 2021
Quartet of representative bodies speak out against indiscriminate attack on legal professionals
Ethnic Uighurs are seen during a protest against China near the Chinese Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey By Huseyin Aldemir; Shutterstock The four bar associations of the UK and Ireland have issued a joint statement condemning sanctions imposed by China on Essex Court Chambers as an ‘indiscriminate attack on legal professionals’. Calling on China to review the sanctions, the four representative bodies have urged other bar associations to speak out against the unprecedented measure, which they said was a threat to global lawyers and the rule of law.