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Margins of justice in colonial Hong Kong: extrajudicial power, solicitors' clerks, and the case of Li Hong Mi, 1917–1920

ABSTRACT Li Hong Mi, a British subject born in Penang, served for 36 years as a court interpreter in Hong Kong. On his retirement in 1909 he became a solicitor's clerk. Chinese politicians in Hong Kong were soon complaining that he was at the centre of a powerful web of champerters, touts and other scoundrels who were subverting the courts of justice from the sidelines. According to the allegations, Li and his confederates were reaping hundreds of thousands of dollars from financing litigation, and swindling newcomers who were ignorant of the law. Believing the courts to be in crisis, the Governor, Sir Henry May, issued a deportation order against Li after enacting legislation to enable him to deport British subjects deemed to have abused the courts. Li opposed the order, going all the way to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His case – the first constitutional case in Hong Kong history – has been cited as an authority on the wide powers of colonial legislatures. It also throws light on two shadowy processes at work in the margins of justice in colonial Hong Kong: the activities of clerks, interpreters and other intermediaries who were essential to the judicial system yet were often seen as a threat to its integrity; and the tendency of governors to resort to deportation and other administrative measures to circumvent and fetter the courts. This article explores the significance of this case in helping us understand the relationships between government, law and people in colonial Hong Kong.