The independent inquiry into the alleged intervention of academic freedom and institutional autonomy of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) will begin on March 22.

The four key figures in the incident will appear before the chief executive-appointed Commission of Inquiry and give evidence.

The preliminary hearing into the incident took place yesterday with the purpose of setting out the procedures for the benefit of the concerned parties prior to beginning of the substantial hearing.

Justice Woo Kwok-hing, Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry, said four persons had so far been involved in this incident and would be summoned.

They included: Paul Morris and Bernard Luk, President and Vice-President of HKIEd, who put forth the allegations.

Secretary for Education and Manpower Arthur Li and former Secretary for Manpower and Education Fanny Law, who are implied as the government officials infringing academic freedom, will also be required to appear before the hearing.

Two serving academic staff (Magdalena Mok and Pang I-wah) and former teaching staff (Ip Kin-yen) of the HKIEd also volunteered to give evidence related to the allegations.

At Justice Woo's direction, they will submit written statements to the commission to decide if the information they have provided is related to the inquiry.

Given a tight timetable to complete the hearing and submit a report to the chief executive not later than June 14, Woo had first proposed to start the hearing on March 12.

However, counsel for Li and Law, and the counsel for Paul Morris and Bernard Luk, both asked for more time for preparation.

"We need time to go through correspondences between the Education and Manpower Bureau and HKIEd for the past 10 years," said counsel Lisa Wong, acting for Li and Law on the instruction of the Department of Justice.