Hong Kong chief justice claims overseas judges have left due to ‘orchestrated harassment’
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Andrew Cheung defends city’s legal processes as ‘transparent, fair and independent’ despite mounting concerns from departing legal officers. Hong Kong’s top judge has claimed the exodus of foreign judges from the judiciary’s benches since the introduction of the national security law is due to escalating geopolitical tensions and “orchestrated harassment”.
The city’s chief justice, Andrew Cheung, made the remarks at the ceremonial opening of the city’s legal year on Monday evening in a speech which acknowledged the changing political environment but otherwise stridently defended the judiciary. Hong Kong has a common law system separate from the Chinese mainland’s, but observers say it is under growing political pressure.
In 2020 Beijing introduced a sweeping National Security Law (NSL) to Hong Kong, with the support of the Hong Kong government, as part of a massive crackdown on dissent and opposition after the pro-democracy protests of 2019. The NSL has been described as overly broad and punitive and some prosecutions have been accused of denying procedural fairness to defendants.
Cheung spoke of the “significant challenges” faced by Hong Kong in recent years which had “tested Hong Kong’s judiciary and the strength of our legal institutions”. But he said it had stood firm and legal processes remained “transparent, fair and independent”.
But he also made repeated mention of the foreign judges who have walked away from the city’s court of final appeal, including five just last year, after a decades-long arrangement which saw a rotating roster sit part-time alongside local colleagues to hear cases.
