Singapore: Three of Australia’s most senior judges will remain on Hong Kong’s top court after Britain pulled out its judges in response to Beijing’s national security laws.
British judges Lord Robert Reed and Lord Patrick Hodge resigned from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal on Thursday stating they believed the Hong Kong government had “departed from values of political freedom and freedom of expression”.
All three Australian judges on Hong Kong’s court Robert French, Murray Gleeson and William Gummow, are former High Court judges.Credit:Fairfax Media
Australian judge James Spigelman left over the introduction of national security laws in September 2020. But former Australian High Court chief justices Murray Gleeson and Robert French and former High Court judge William Gummow said in a statement to Agence France-Presse that they would remain on the court because they believed in its “commitment to judicial independence”.
“We do not intend to resign and we support the judges of the Court of Final Appeal in their commitment to judicial independence,” Gummow, Gleeson and French said in a joint statement.
French said in a separate statement that he believed the Chief Justice and resident judges of the Court of Final Appeal were committed to maintaining the independence of the judiciary.
“My continuance in office as a non-permanent judge reflects my support for that commitment and belief in the ability of the Court to give effect to it,” he said.
The court has been confronted by the national security laws imposed by Beijing which can punish dissent with sentences of up to life in prison.
Judges attend the ceremonial opening of the legal year at City Hall in Hong Kong in 2020.Credit:Reuters
In February last year, the court denied bail to high-profile newspaper publisher and Beijing critic Jimmy Lai, who remains in jail on national security charges.
In December, the court ruled that offences under the anti-sedition law would be considered acts endangering national security after an appeal by speech therapist Sidney Ng against charges of conspiring to publish a series of “seditious children’s books”.
Last month, Fernando Cheung, a former pro-democracy MP was sentenced to three weeks in jail for chanting pro-democracy slogans in a government meeting after the court ruled parliamentary privilege did not apply to making a disturbance in the legislative council.
None of the three Australian judges presided over these cases.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said there had been a systematic erosion of liberty and democracy in the former British colony. Beijing imposed the laws in June 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests against its rising influence in the territory.
“Since the national security law was imposed, authorities have cracked down on free speech, the free press and free association,” said Truss. “The situation has reached a tipping point where it is no longer tenable for British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s leading court, and would risk legitimising oppression.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne and the Department of Foreign Affairs have been contacted for comment.
The court was established in 1997 after the handover of Hong Kong from Britain to China, replacing the Privy Council in London as the global financial hub’s top court.
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.Credit:AAP
The court has had a leading role in maintaining independent common law in Hong Kong as distinct from China’s judicial system which is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. Before Reed and Hodge’s resignations, there were seven local judges and 10 non-permanent foreign judges from the UK, Canada and Australia on the court.
The UK’s Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab accused China of breaching the Sino-British declaration which guaranteed freedom of expression and judicial independence for Hong Kong.
“This flies in the face of the handover agreement we have had with China since 1997,” he said.
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam. Credit:AP
Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam said she regretted the British judges’ decision to resign.
“I can only draw the conclusion that there must be a lot of politics behind it,” she said.
“I remain very confident that we still have very fine judges in the judiciary, both local and from overseas. Hong Kong will continue to benefit significantly.”
With Reuters
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