The new head of the International Bar Association (IBA) has said that the organisation will speak out if unjustified and illegal sanctions are imposed on legal professionals in Hong Kong.
The remarks from IBA president Claudio Visco came during his visit to attend the ceremonial opening of the legal year on Monday, following calls from some US politicians to sanction Hong Kong judges and prosecutors involved in national security cases.
Visco said the IBA has consistently spoken out against violations of international law and that Hong Kong would not be excluded from its monitoring efforts.
“Whenever sanctions occurred, and [they] were not justified and there were clear violations of international law, we intervened,” he told the Post in an interview on Sunday.
He cited the IBA’s condemnation of threats made by the US President Donald Trump administration to sanction American law firms for not abiding by its policy as an example.
“So far, sanctions have not been an issue [for Hong Kong], but if they were, we would consider and evaluate to what extent we need to take a position,” Visco said.
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