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UPFRONT 8 www.canadianlawyermag.com WITH THE Law Society of Ontario's com- mitment to monitor human rights violations targeting members of the legal profession, bencher and trial lawyer, Chi-Kun Shi, wants the LSO to act on behalf of Hong Kong law- yers. She says these lawyers uphold and defend the rule of law but face human rights violations in China. Intervening for Hong Kong lawyers and paralegals in China honours their courage and signals that they are supported and remem- bered, says Shi. The LSO wrote a letter to President Xi Jinping and Chief Executive Carrie Lam in May 2021 condemning the human rights vio- LSO should speak out on behalf of Hong Kong lawyers: bencher creates a dangerous standard for all those who work to promote and defend human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong." Shi says she hopes the LSO will act within its power, "walk the talk," and grant honorary LSO membership to Ngoi-yee, Chu-ming and Chun-yan. She intended to bring forward the motion for honorary membership on the Oct. 1 convocation but says she withdrew the motion to rework it. "Instead of singling out three people who have illuminated the legal profession, I would like to include all the unsung heroes, law- yers and paralegals in Hong Kong who have stepped up in the face of tyranny to defend our shared value of the rule of law," she says. In February, Shi brought a motion to con- vocation to call for former Chief Justice of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, to resign from the Hong Kong final appeal court. Shi told the LSO that the Chinese govern- ment uses the presence of foreign judges to maintain the illusion of legitimacy amid increasing human rights violations. With the National Security Law, Shi says, the Hong Kong final appeal court has become an arm of the Chinese communist government. The motion failed to pass convocation. Chi-Kun Shi previously brought a motion calling on Beverley McLachlin to resign from the Hong Kong final appeal court lations and unjust sentencing of lawyers Dr. Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee, Martin Lee Chu-ming and Albert Ho Chun-yan for participating in "unauthorized protests" in April 2020. The letter urged the president to comply with China's international human rights laws, including the United Nation's universal decla- ration of human rights. "The recent conviction and unjust sentenc- ing of lawyers and pro-democracy advocates … underscores the continuing assault on free- dom of expression and right to assembly in Hong Kong. Arresting and charging lawyers and other human rights defenders who have engaged in peaceful assembly and advocacy NEWS BRIEFS Justice of the peace removed from office over editorial on bail system The Ontario Divisional Court has upheld the decision of a hearing panel to remove a justice of the peace from office for committing judicial misconduct concerning an opinion article published on a news website. In Lauzon v. Justices of the Peace Review Council, 2021 ONSC 6174, the applicant, Justice of the Peace Julie Lauzon, published an article on the National Post's website entitled When Bail Courts Don't Follow the Law. The article provided a critique of the bail system with a critical comment on the conduct of Ottawa Crown attorneys in the bail process. Participation in case conference not private information, disclosure not a breach of privacy: court The Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled that disclosing an employee's participation in a case adverse to their employer does not amount to a breach of privacy. In Wakeling v. Desjardins General Insurance Group Inc., 2021 ONCA 672, the appellant appeared as a witness in a case against her employer, the respondent. When the respondent learned of her participation in the case, the appellant was terminated. The appellant filed an action arguing that the respondent and its counsel had invaded their privacy by revealing the appellant's participation. "Let us be inspired by the heroism of the Hong Kong lawyers and paralegals." Chi-Kun Shi ONTARIO UPDATE