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Junius K. Y. Ho (何君堯) (born 4 June 1962) is a Hong Kong lawyer and politician.

Quotes

“It would not be killing Hongkongers. It would be killing rioters.”

Early life

Ho came from a family of village leaders. He grew up in the old site of Leung Tin Tsuen village in Tuen Mun. He is a 32nd-generation descent of his Hakka clan which can be traced back to the 10th century.

Ho attended Queen's College Hong Kong from 1975 to 1979, after which he went to the United Kingdom, where he enrolled at Anglia Ruskin University (formerly known as Chelmer Institute of Higher Education) and obtained his Bachelor of Law's degree in 1984. Ho joined a post-graduate programme at the University of Hong Kong in 1984 and obtained his Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) in 1986. He was bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Laws by Anglia Ruskin University in 2011.

Career

After gaining his qualifications he was admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1988 and was similarly admitted in other jurisdictions in Singapore and England and Wales in 1995 and 1997. He is the senior partner of a law firm in Hong Kong and a principal representative of a law firm in Guangzhou. His major practice field is civil litigation, specialising in shareholders' disputes and family disputes. He was appointed a China-Appointed Attesting Officer in 2003.

He became the Vice-President (June 2005 – May 2011) and Council Member of the Law Society of Hong Kong (May 2012 – present) and was elected as the President of the Law Society of Hong Kong (May 2011 – May 2012). Ho was appointed an independent director of Hong Kong Football Association Limited.

Political positions and platforms

Hi was elected as Chairman of Tuen Mun Rural Committee in 2011. He was a candidate in the Legislative Council Election in New Territories West in September 2012 and is a spokesman for the New Territories Concern Group. In October 2015, Ho was one of three prominent pro-establishment figures appointed to Lingnan University council by Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-ying. Students staged a protest against their appointment over fears of political interference of university governance. In the 2015 Hong Kong district council elections, Junius Ho defeated Albert Ho of the Democratic Party.

Democratic election process

Responding to a government proposal to deal with by-elections caused by deliberate resignation of any LegCo Members in the unofficial Five Constituencies Referendum, Ho proposed for a law to restrict any LegCo member from standing for by-election by public vote. It formed part of the revised Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill (2012) (re. Legislative Council Ordinance Cap. 542 s.39) restricting any resigned member of the LegCo from joining any by-elections within six months that was passed in 2013.

Constitutional rights

In 2012, he was reported in the news to be rather vocal on the heated topic of illegal structures During the saga of the illegal structures of New Territories Exempted Houses, he was reported to be protecting constitutional rights. In an attempt to purge the longstanding and historical problem of illegal structures in Hong Kong, the government introduced a registration scheme for house owners to make declarations for any breaches of law in exchange for a 5-year amnesty. Junius criticised the government for exerting undue influence on house owners to confess and make declarations contrary to the basic constitutional right of remaining silent. He established the New Territories Concern Group with those who shared his belief and lobbied with the government and other political parties for changing the Buildings Ordinance to allow house owners to apply for enhancing their homes formally. and discouraged owners of New Territories Exempted Houses to register unauthorised building works as registration would be self-incriminating and the Government might take enforcement actions against those who have registered after 5 years.

Tuen Mun district

Ho advocates to reduce the extension of landfill area in Tuen Mun and has urged the government to build a plasma gasification waste disposal plant which he viewed as a more advanced, cleaner and more cost effective technology, and abandon its plan to buy obsolete technology. He is supportive of the proposal for building columbarium at Tuen Mun.

Personal life

He is married with 3 children, and he used to lived in Tuen Mun.

Current positions

Business

• committee member of Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce in China – Guangdong
• Arbitrator of Wuhan International Arbitration Court and Zhengzhou Arbitration Commission
• Consultant of Guangzhou Municipal Board for International Investment

Charity

• Chairman of Yan Oi Tong (1996–1997)
• Advisory board member of Yan Oi Tong (1997 to present)
• Member of Concerted Efforts Resource Centre
• Honorary President of 2011–2012 Tuen Mun West District, New Territories Region, Scout Association of Hong Kong
• Vice-President of 2009–2012 Yuen Long Western District, New Territories Region, Scout Association of Hong Kong

Community

• Chairman of the Mainland Legal Affairs of the Law Society of Hong Kong
• Chairman of Product Eco-responsibility Appeal Board Panel
• Rotated Chairman of Duty Lawyer Service Council in 2005 and 2007
• Founder of Butterflyers Association Ltd in Tuen Mun in 2011

Political

• Indigenous Village Representative of Leung Tin Tsuen
• Chairman of Tuen Mun Rural Committee
• Founded the Protect Central Group in September 2014 in opposition to Occupy Central with Love and Peace.

References

1. "Hong Kong police should have shot rioters if necessary, says outspoken lawyer" – South China Morning Post
2. "university strife-lingnan's new council member". South China Morning Post
3. "Anglia Ruskin University's Honorary Graduate Site – Junius Ho". Anglia Ruskin University. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
4. Law List – The Law Society of Hong Kong
5. Council Members – The Law Society of Hong Kong
6. "LegCo Election results: New Territories West". info.gov.hk. 9 September 2012.
7. ^ NT Concern Group
8. "LingnanU Council member storms out of forum, says students swore, insulted his wife". Hong Kong Free Press.
9. "Chief Executive appoints pro-Beijing figures as Lingnan University Council members". Hong Kong Free Press.
10. "'Umbrella soldiers' win eight seats as veteran politicians suffer surprise defeat - Hong Kong Free Press". Hong Kong Free Press.
11. Lam confident of new by-elections tweak – The Standard
12. "President's Message". Hong Kong Lawyer.
13. Half illegal structures in New Territories feared unreported. South China Morning Post
14. Villagers boycott order on homes. The Standard
15. Hong Kong Edition. South China Morning Post
16. "新界佬秘密武器保僭建". 壹週刊.
17. "Government needs to rethink its waste management policy". South China Morning Post
18. Officials 'out of touch' in dispute over future of Hong Kong's country park enclaves. South China Morning Post
19. "仁愛堂 :: 歷屆總理聯誼會". yot.org.hk.
20. "仁愛堂 :: 諮議局". yot.org.hk.
21. 2011–2012 年度區務委員會委員名錄
22. "Product Eco-responsibility Appeal Board Panel". epd.gov.hk.
23. "Butterflyers Association". butterflyers.net.
24. List of Village Representatives, Home Affairs Department
25. Newly founded group vows to ‘protect’ CentralHK – China Daily

• 1962 births
• Living people
• Hong Kong legal professionals
• District councillors of Tuen Mun District
• Indigenous inhabitants of the New Territories in Hong Kong
• Hong Kong people of Hakka descent