User:Ric Baker/sandbox

Pamela Maureen Baker (nee Halley) 1930 - 2002

Pam Baker was a Human Rights Lawyer based in Hong Kong from 1982 to 2001

''A Barrister who quit the Honk Kong Legal Aid Department to start her own law firm after being told that she was “fostering false hopes” amongst Vietnamese refugees for taking their cases. Her firm, Pam Baker & Co, went on to win difficult legal battles for refugees, as well as for thousands of children of Hong Kong residents marooned on the mainland, unable to obtain permits from the Chinese authorities to be reunited with their parents. Whilst working for the Legal Aid Department in 1985 she was instrumental in establishing the first shelter for battered women in Hong Kong.''

Pamela Maureen Halley was born in Dundee Scotland 28th August 1930, brought up by wee Nannie (the greatest influence on her life) under the guidance of her GrandMother Jeanie Baxter, sister of William Duncan Baxter Mayor of Cape Town South Africa in 1907. Pam and her sister Ann were evacuated to South Africa for the duration of WW11. Their Mother had never recovered from suspected post-natal depression and died in 1935. Pam described her Father as "handsome and clever and completely amoral."

At the end of the war Pam returned to Dundee, finished school and studied Law at St Andrews University, she qualified as a Scottish Solicitor and married a Catholic junior Doctor Peter Baker on the 27th March 1954. She became pregnant immediately, in less than 9 years producing 6 children. When the youngest became a teenager Pam had some time to think, she rediscovered some confidence selling second hand IBM typewriters. Then studied to convert her Scottish degree to an English qualification and read for the Bar at Gray's Inn. Aged 50, a GrandMother and newly qualified Barrister she did pupilage at the Temple but in 1980 the prejudices were blatant and although considered useful enough to be allowed to squat while mopping up awkward cases no one else wanted, she could not get a seat in Chambers.

About this time her husband decided he wanted to marry someone else, as she was unable to find a permanent position in chambers, when she came across an advert for the Hong Kong Legal Aid Department she decided her children were old enough to look after themselves, applied for the job and arrived in Hong Kong on the 2nd November 1982. She knew no one but loved Hong Kong from the start. On Expat terms with accommodation provided life was very comfortable but Pam's sense of justice did not endear her to her superiors. In April 1985 after meeting many victims of domestic abuse looking for legal aid, she remedied the lack of social and practical help, bringing together local groups and her cousin a Major commanding the garrison of Scots Guards. She supplied the impetus and he supplied the manpower to renovate the building that became the first refuge for battered women in the territory. From May 1975 and the end of the Vietnam war "boat people" had been arriving in Hong Kong. In 1979 the Vietnamese repression of ethnic Chinese following the attempted invasion by China, added to the flow. By 1982 compassion fatigue and a reduction in resettlement to third countries had taken its toll. The refugees were not allowed to work and were kept in closed camps. By June 1988 the system was further tightened to the point those arriving had to prove their status or be considered economic migrants to be returned to Vietnam, if possible. Pam came across them mostly in relation to divorce, domestic violence and criminal cases, often minor, occasionally mistaken identity, which could negate any chance of third country resettlement. She had helped set up the group Refugee Concern Hong Kong in 1988, principally as a vehicle for people working for NGOs and the UNHCR to have a mouth piece as they risked their jobs if they spoke out about the injustices they were witnessing in the camps

Pam Baker sanctioning legal aid in November 1990 enabled the action of 111 Vietnamese including professional sailors, who won their legal challenge to the validity of their detention. In what came to be known as the "Boat 101" case, a damaged but steel hulled boat entered Hong Kong waters, where the captain was offered or asked for repairs and provisions to continue the journey on to Japan, where refugee status was still available. Instead, the Hong Kong authorities placed those aboard in a detention center and destroyed the boat as it was said to be too costly to repair. The action for Habeas Corpus took 18 months and they were all eventually resettled. The success of Boat 101 brought an increase in cases applying for review and appeal of their refugee status decisions. The Hong Kong Government and UNHCR were displeased and although still a civil servant Pam was banned from visiting the Detention Centres in November 1990. Pressure on her department had her moved into the matrimony section, she could see cases not being dealt with and resigned, "on point of principal", and at great financial cost, she gave up her Government flat and her Civil Service income and benefits.

To become admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong she had to work with an existing firm for a year, it was the fifth firm she asked that took her on. A year later Pam Baker and Co was established, working mostly Pro Bono with young enthusiastic lawyers, volunteer helpers from Australia, Canada and the UK, the Hong Kong community struggled to understand the absence of any capital motive.