In Lewis Carroll's classic story, Alice in Wonderland, Alice declares, "If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense," and she is by no means the only one to feel that way.

On Nov 25, 2022, the Appeal Committee of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal assembled to hear the Secretary for Justice's application for leave to appeal against a decision of the Court of First Instance to admit UK-based barrister Timothy Owen, a London-based King's Counsel (KC), to represent the media magnate, Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, who is charged with endangering national security and publishing seditious content.

Grenville Cross SC gave a speech at a seminar on "Ensuring the Accurate Implementation of the National Security Law" sponsored by the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on Jan 13, 2023.

When the Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Ordinance became operational on Oct 8, 2021, many people had high hopes for it, although some doubted its efficacy. As it criminalized the unauthorized disclosure of personal data, its architects hoped it would herald a new era in the regulatory protection, and they were not mistaken. It may still be early days, but the Amendment Ordinance is already demonstrating its worth.

In legal circles, outsiders who hold forth on legal issues without understanding the law or knowing the facts are held in particular contempt. They are known as "barrack-room lawyers", a term that originally derived from military slang.

On June 27, 2022, Amnesty International (USA) issued its report on capital punishment, entitled The Power of Example: Whither the Biden Death Penalty Promise. It explains how, since the 1970s, the US has portrayed itself as an exemplar of human rights, while contributing to systemic abuses by advocating for, allowing, or otherwise furthering the use of the death penalty in America.

Between June 2019 and September 2020, over 10,000 people were arrested over their involvement in protest-related crimes. The trials of those prosecuted, often students, have now concluded, and many have been convicted. Given the severity of their crimes, sentences of detention, of one sort or another, have often been unavoidable.

Although the United States often expresses concerns over the possibility of Taiwan being reunified with its motherland by force, it claims to support consensual reunification. This, however, could not be further from the truth, and its own national interests dictate otherwise. It benefits enormously from cross-Straits divisions, and the last thing it wants to see is their removal.

On Oct 10, 2022, the secretary for labor and welfare, Chris Sun Yuk-han, announced that legislation would be expedited to make it mandatory for professionals working with children to report abuse. Although this is clearly welcome, it is only the start, and it will hopefully open the door to a host of other much-needed child protection measures. This includes internet safety, where other jurisdictions are already taking the lead.

On Sept 29, 2022, the criminal fugitive and ex-lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung was sentenced in the High Court to 3.5 years' imprisonment, after he was convicted in absentia of criminal contempt.

Equality of treatment has always been a fundamental aspect of the Hong Kong way of life. It is not only a part of its common law tradition, but is also recognized by the Basic Law (Art 25). The notion that people should be treated fairly, irrespective of their place of origin, is one that must always be honored, and this means there can be no place for discrimination.

In Hong Kong, freedom of expression is doubly protected, being guaranteed by both the Basic Law (Art.27) and the Hong Kong Bill of Rights (Art.16). The idea that people should be allowed to hold and express their own opinions has always been highly cherished in Hong Kong, and this did not change after 1997. In the Court of Final Appeal, the then-chief justice, Andrew Li Kwok-nang, described freedom of expression as "a fundamental freedom", and one that "lies at the heart of civil society and of Hong Kong's system and of its way of life" (FACC 4/1999).

After the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on Sept 8, there was a huge outpouring of grief. This remarkable woman had reigned for over 70 years, longer than any other British monarch, and over 80 percent of Britons are said to have been born on her watch. Many of those paying tribute to her life and achievements said they would not see the like of her again, and her former prime ministers all held her in the highest regard.

After the Daoguang Emperor tasked Commissioner Lin Zexu with suppressing the opium trade bedeviling China in 1839, Lin initially tried diplomacy.

As the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area proceeds apace, an infrastructure boom is underway in Shenzhen. In Qianhai, which has been described as "Shenzhen's Manhattan", the Qianhai Cooperation Zone (QCZ) is scheduled for completion by 2025. Its development plan envisages closer ties with Hong Kong, particularly in the areas of business and technology, and the groundwork for this has already been done.