Re Eldred Tabachnik, Q.C.

HCMP3244/2001

IN THE HIGH COURT OF THE

HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION

COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE

MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS NO. 3244 of 2001

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J U D G M E N T

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1. This is an application by Mr Eldred Tabachnik QC to be admitted as a barrister of the High Court in Hong Kong for the purpose of advising and representing the Secretary for Justice in the hearing in the Court of First Instance in the proceedings HCA No. 16883 of 1999.

2. These proceedings involve a claim by approximately 3,600 employees of the HKSAR Government against the Government for underpayment and overtime allowances.

3. Mr Tabachnik has been retained by the Secretary for Justice to act for the Government in these proceedings and will appear together with Mr Joseph Fok SC and Mr Daniel Wan.

4. Mr Tabachnik was called to the Bar of England and Wales in May 1970 and became a Queen's Counsel in April 1982. He specializes in the field of employment law and has a distinguish record in employment cases.

5. In support of Mr Tabachnik's application, Senior Government Counsel Miss Chan Pui Shan in her affidavit deposed that the legal issues involved in the pending proceedings are difficult and complex but not unusually difficult and complex. However, the determination of these issues may have a significant impact on future Government policies in respect of pay and conditions of service for civil servants and given the extensive experience of Mr Tabachnik in the field of employment law, Mr Tabachnik would be of great assistance to the Secretary for Justice and the court in Hong Kong in the pending proceedings.

6. The Bar Association and the Secretary for Justice have no objection to Mr Tabachnik's application.

7. I am satisfied that this is a case in which I may exercise my discretion under section 27(2)(b) of the Legal Practitioners Ordinance to admit Mr Tabachnik as a barrister in Hong Kong for the purpose of the proceedings in question and it is in the public interest that Mr Tabachnik should be so admitted. Accordingly, I make an order in terms of the Notice of Motion.