FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - EARLY MORNING
It's 06:10. PETER wakes up.
PETER: (V.O.): Good. The challenge before a day's hearing has been whether I could sleep the night before.
INT. STUDY - MORNING
Having checked something on his phone, Peter prints them until the printing machine is jammed.
PETER (V.O.): No preparation is ever enough.
EXT. MTR STATION EXIT - LATER
It's 08:30. A female STAFF (30) greets Peter.
PETER: Oh, you're so early.
STAFF: Yes, I don't want to be late.
PETER (V.O.): Me too. I've never been to the Torture Claims Appeal Board.
Art 2
INT. APPEAL BOARD PREMISES - DAY
Interview room. Peter explains something to a CLIENT via INTERPRETER#1.
PETER:...Ready?
The client nods.
Beat.
Peter, client, and INTERPRETER#2 enter a hearing room.
PETER (V.O.): At last, I'm here.
Peter looks around as the staff directs him and the client to take their seats between Interpreter#2.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): It looks like a moot court room. But it's real. It exercises statutory appeal function.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I've had to make available the Copyright Tribunal in the Intellectual Property Department from 1997, I just pooled the resources to have a make-shift one.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): But the Tribunal doesn't have run-of-the-mill business.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): On trademark matters, there're regular businesses. But our so-called Hearing Room is no different from an ordinary conference room.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Here's different. They've got three hearing rooms. And there're three seats on the bench.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): As appeal hearings here are conducted in private and in confidence, the public can't attend.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Despite the work and pressure, I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to do my first appeal here.
Peter puts his papers on the bar table.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): See how it goes.
Beat.
The appeal hearing is over.
PETER (V.O.): I've done the best I can to advance my client's case.
PETER (to staff): What's the time now?
STAFF: I:00 pm.
PETER: A full half-day hearing. Was it long or short by the standard here?
STAFF: A relatively short one.
PETER (V.O.): A good on-the-job learning experience for me though.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While the adjudicator would have to write his decision, my client would have to wait for the outcome.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): When I was learning International Human Rights law, I recall a professor emphasizing the right to seek asylum doesn't mean that asylum would be granted as of right.
Act 3.
INT. CORRIDOR - AFTERNOON
Toilet keys in hand, Interpreter#2 rushes in the direction of the toilet. He suddenly stops before client and staff, pointing a finger at Peter.
INTERPRETER#2: I've never seen a counsel as keen and anxious as him to advance his client's interest!
Peter smiles.
PETER (V.O.): What an endorsement!
They part.
INT. STUDY - LATER
Peter takes out the jammed papers from the printing machine.
PETER (V.O.): My job is largely done. I've contributed to maintain the high standards of fairness in Hong Kong, China.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Having ensured substantive and procedural justice, the outcome of the case will depend on its own merits.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): The third-party endorsement has given me more than what I did. It made my day.
INT. SLEEPING ROOM - NIGHT
Peter is listening to the radio programme All the Way With Ray.
PETER (V.O.): I'm sure I'll sleep well tonight.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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