Hong Kong human rights lawyer who made a name in protest-related and LGBT rights cases shutting down law firm after almost 20 years
- Michael Vidler was involved in high profile cases such as ones related to the 2019 anti-government protests and also represented Joshua Wong Chi-fung
- Once an Election Committee member, he previously said he hoped to help pick a candidate who was not a ‘Beijing lapdog’ for Hong Kong leadership
Michael Vidler, a Hong Kong human rights lawyer who has taken cases relating to the 2019 anti-government protests and transgender rights, is shutting down his law firm in two months.
The plan to close was first revealed in a Thursday circular by the Law Society of Hong Kong to its members, which said Vidler & Co. Solicitors would cease practice on June 3.
Vidler confirmed to the Post he was shutting down the firm, which he started 19 years ago, but refused to comment further on speculation that he was leaving for Britain where he began his legal career in 1990.
His firm, established in 2003, specialises in judicial review and criminal defence, and has taken on landmark cases ranging from freedom of expression, the right to demonstrate and LGBT rights.
Some of the firm’s high-profile cases in recent years related to the mass protests that erupted in June 2019 over a now-withdrawn extradition bill. This included Vidler’s involvement in helping an Indonesian journalist initiate private prosecution against an officer after she was shot in the face while covering a protest in Wan Chai.
The firm also represented a woman who accused police of raping her inside the Tsuen Wan police station. Then police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung denied a rape took place, and said Vidler’s client was a “wanted person” and the force was planning to arrest her on suspicion of misleading officers. In response, the lawyer said neither his firm or his client had received any notice from police that she was under criminal investigation.
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Early in his career, Vidler successfully challenged a law prohibiting those under the age of 21 from engaging in anal sex, compared to age 16 for vaginal sex. The court ruled in 2004 that the higher age of consent for gay men was discriminatory and therefore unconstitutional.
Another case that raised his profile involved a transsexual woman, identified only as W, who was not allowed to marry her boyfriend since her birth certificate listed her as male. The Court of Final Appeal ruled in favour of W in 2013, and that landmark decision raised hopes of fairer laws governing the status of transgender people in Hong Kong, where same sex marriage is not legal.
In the following year after the Occupy movement, Vidler represented Joshua Wong Chi-fung – leader of the now-defunct student group Scholarism – when he was charged for his roles in a protest that triggered the pro-democracy campaign.
The lawyer also assisted Civic Party protester Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, who was allegedly beaten by several police officers in Admiralty.
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Vidler is a part-time lecturer at the University of Hong Kong and also served in a number of advisory bodies, including the Hong Kong Law Society Legal Aid Committee and the Hong Kong Family Law Association.
He was elected as an Election Committee member in 2011 and 2016 to play a part in picking Hong Kong’s leader. In previous interviews, he said he hoped to choose a candidate who was not a “Beijing lapdog” who would pursue democratic reforms and recognise same-sex marriage one day.
