The British government announced its New Year honors list, 2024 last Friday, Dec. 29. Among them, British lawyer Michael Vidler, who practiced law in Hong Kong for 30 years and participated in many anti-extradition law amendment cases, was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE), in recognition of his contribution to human rights and justice in Hong Kong.
Mr. Vidler graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Leeds in the UK. He qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1992 and established Vidler & Co. Solicitors in 2003. Over the years, Vidler has served as the representative lawyer for prominent activists such as Joshua Wong, Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, and Eddie Chu Hoi-dick in various social movement cases. He also took on several sensitive cases during the anti-extradition law protests, including representing an 18-year-old girl who accused several police officers of rape and an Indonesian female journalist allegedly blinded by a police officer. That led to his nickname of the “designated lawyer of the opposition” by pro-communist media. The British government commended Mr. Vidler for his “services to justice and human rights in Hong Kong.”
After practicing law in Hong Kong for 30 years, Mr. Vidler unexpectedly closed his practice and left Hong Kong in April 2022. At the time, he told the media that the arrests of prominent figures such as Martin Lee and Margaret Ng, coupled with the summoning of former Bar Association chairman Paul Harris by the National Security Department in March, had crossed his red line of alert. Although the National Security Department did not summon Mr. Vidler himself, he felt threatened by the inclusion of his law firm in the rulings of designated judges under the National Security Law, which he described as akin to being summoned by the National Security Department. He expressed concern that individuals arrested with lawyer cards could be questioned as to whether their lawyers were instigators, describing the sentence as a reminder for the police to take action. The fear of being the subject of investigation by the authorities convinced him that it was necessary to leave.
Upon investigation, it was found that in a ruling in February 2022, District Court Judge Chan Kwong-chi explicitly mentioned the Vidler Law Firm’s contact information on cards found on the defendants in an unlawful assembly case in Hung Hom from August 2019. Magistrate Chan said that the cards “show the organizational nature in the case, and the existence of a group working behind-the-scenes,” but he “will not comment on whether these people were instigators or accomplices of the riot, or whether anyone violated their professional codes.”
In addition to Mr. Vidler, arts philanthropist Kevin Burke, and food bank “Feeding Hong Kong” founder Gabrielle Kirstein were also awarded the OBE. Ann Haydon, Principal of Harrow International School Hong Kong, was awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of her contribution to education in the UK and Hong Kong. Future Green founder and CEO Heidy Spurrell was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM).
