The British government announced its New Year honors list, 2024 last Friday, Dec. 29. Among them, British lawyer Michael Vidler, who practiced law in Hong Kong for 30 years and participated in many anti-extradition law amendment cases, was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE), in recognition of his contribution to human rights and justice in Hong Kong.
Mr. Vidler graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Leeds in the UK. He qualified as a solicitor in Hong Kong in 1992 and established Vidler & Co. Solicitors in 2003. Over the years, Vidler has served as the representative lawyer for prominent activists such as Joshua Wong, Ken Tsang Kin-chiu, and Eddie Chu Hoi-dick in various social movement cases. He also took on several sensitive cases during the anti-extradition law protests, including representing an 18-year-old girl who accused several police officers of rape and an Indonesian female journalist allegedly blinded by a police officer. That led to his nickname of the “designated lawyer of the opposition” by pro-communist media. The British government commended Mr. Vidler for his “services to justice and human rights in Hong Kong.”
