Hong Kong security law makes future of foreign judges 'uncertain': Report

The future of foreign judges serving in Hong Kong has become uncertain after the resignation of veteran Australian judge James Spigelman, according to a South China Morning Post columnist. China’s draconian national security law has caused major concern for countries providing resources to enforce the guarantees provided by the Basic Law, the de facto constitution enacted to implement the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

Columnist Alex Lo wrote for the Hong Kong-based English daily that the days of foreign judges serving in the city’s top court may be numbered as their own governments are questioning the viability. Journalists and lawyers have already been scrambling to adapt to the vague and broad definition of offences under the national security law and an independent judiciary could be the next victim of the controversial legislation.

“Whatever preferences or good arguments we have for retaining foreign judges, their future in Hong Kong looks uncertain,” wrote Alex.

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Concerns over the law

Spigelman resigned from the court two years ahead of schedule, explicitly citing the national security law as the reason behind his decision. Australia, Britain, New Zealand and Canada currently provide non-permanent judges for the Court of Final Appeal. The president of the British Supreme Court in London has already hinted that UK judges might not serve in Hong Kong if the city’s judicial independence gets compromised by the new law.

“That would suit the leftists as well as some pro-establishment figures fine. They have long wanted a completely local Chinese judiciary,” Alex added.

Earlier this month, China had rebuked the United Nations experts who raised serious objections over the draconian national security law imposed on Hong Kong which undermined the city’s autonomy. In a letter to the Chinese government, the UN special rapporteurs on human rights warned that parts of the legislation which define organising, planning, committing or participating in secession or subversion, “appear to criminalise speech acts, including political writing.”

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(With ANI inputs)