Legco agrees to appointment of top court judge
Legco agrees to appointment of top court judge
Justice William Young becomes the sixth overseas non-permanent judge at the Court of Final Appeal. File photo: RTHK
Lawmakers on Wednesday approved the appointment of Justice William Young as a non-permanent judge of Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal for three years.
Young served as a permanent judge at New Zealand's top court for 12 years before retiring in 2022.
He becomes the 10th non-permanent judge on the SAR's top court, and the sixth from overseas.
Speaking before the approval, Chief Secretary Eric Chan said Young should begin his term this month.
Chan described him as a high-standing, excellent judge with a wide range of practising experience, such as criminal and tax cases.
The minister noted that not only is the SAR the only jurisdiction in the country practising common law, it is also the only jurisdiction worldwide operating in both Chinese and English.
He said having overseas judges sitting on Hong Kong's top court is paramount to the city's global legal status.
"Having these eminent overseas judges with extensive judicial experience constituting part of our Court of Final Appeal is truly rare among common law jurisdictions in the world," Chan told lawmakers at a full council meeting.
He added that the foreign judges' presence fully shows the distinctive advantage of Hong Kong's highly internationalised judicial system.
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Roach adds that 'I still suspect that tariffs surviving the current legal skirmishes are likely to be onerous enough to have negative impacts on global trade, with especially adverse implications for the US and China.' Trouble is, Roach says, 'in this climate, companies have no idea how to scale and source inputs for their multinational production platforms. The planning exercise has become an oxymoron, with serious consequences for the real economy.' The bottom line, Roach notes, is that a 'protracted period of policy uncertainty essentially freezes business decision-making on capital spending and hiring, with negative repercussions for income generation and consumer demand; consumer purchasing power should be further constrained by tariff-related price shocks. Uncertainty remains the enemy of decision making.' As Xi slow-walks Trump's desire for a big, splashy trade deal, the odds of this fragile truce holding are dwindling even after Thursday's call. 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No doubt, Team Xi is busily strategizing on their own Abe-like dodge, minus the aggressive flattery. Xi's Communist Party, of course, does not have to contest mid-term elections 18 months from now. And Xi knows it. As such, Beijing is in no hurry to sign a 'Phase Two' trade agreement with a US leader sure to demand a 'Phase Three' round of talks a year from now. At the same time, US officials are learning that Trump's chaotic Phase One process prompted China to pivot to other markets. Today, China's top trading partner is the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations, followed by the European Union. Also, China is actively growing its market share among the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa – and the Global South. Xi's 'Made in China 2025' strategy has been quietly making the nation more self-sufficient. All of which means Trump's hopes of pulling off a massive, world-changing trade deal are slipping away, even after his declaration after Thursday's call that such a deal is on the horizon. And if he's wondering who's to blame, all Trump needs to do is look in the mirror. Follow William Pesek on X at @WilliamPesek
