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South China Morning Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Appointment of latest overseas justice to top court boosts judiciary
The departure of foreign judges from Hong Kong's top court in recent years has raised concerns about the future of a system that has served the city well. Five left last year, variously citing their age or personal or political reasons. Another resigned in April, leaving only five. The announcement that William Young, an eminent retired judge from New Zealand, has been hired to sit on the Court of Final Appeal is, therefore, most welcome. It gives the judiciary a boost and shows that even at a time of geopolitical tensions, leading legal figures are prepared to commit to Hong Kong. Young has enjoyed a long and distinguished career. He was appointed to New Zealand's High Court in 1997, its Court of Appeal in 2004 and Supreme Court in 2010, before retiring in 2022. The jurist is also well known for chairing a royal commission of inquiry into the Christchurch terror attack of 2019. Young meets the requirement that the part-time foreign judges have experience at the highest level. He will be a valuable addition. The appointment swiftly follows the premature resignation of Australian judge Robert French. It is encouraging that he has been replaced quickly. French expressed his respect for the integrity and independence of the Court of Final Appeal judges. But he also suggested the overseas judges had become 'increasingly anachronistic and arguably cosmetic'. That is not the position, nor can it ever be allowed to become so. The role played by overseas judges is an integral part of the arrangements put in place for Hong Kong's return to China in 1997. It is provided for by the Basic Law. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung paid tribute to the 'immense' contribution of the foreign judges in his speech at the opening of the new legal year in January. He recognised that recruiting overseas judges with the right stature and experience had become more difficult amid the current 'geopolitical headwinds'.
South China Morning Post
12-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong cannot allow its system of foreign judges to wither and die
And then there were five. The pool of eminent foreign judges sitting on Hong Kong's top court, once of Olympic proportions, continues to evaporate. It is now little more than a puddle. Advertisement The latest judge to depart is Robert French, the former chief justice of Australia's High Court. His resignation is a blow to the judiciary, casting further doubts on a system that has served the city well. French, appointed as a part-time judge of the Court of Final Appeal in 2017, had previously stated he intended to stay. His withdrawal comes more than a year before the end of his contract. The judge's comments on his departure should prompt reflection in Hong Kong. The government has been quick to highlight French's continued confidence in the independence and integrity of the top court's remaining judges. He also rejected the idea that the foreign justices are 'somehow complicit in the application by the executive of national security laws or somehow confer on them a spurious legitimacy'. That view is often cited by critics of the judges overseas. Advertisement But French did not stop there. He also said the role of the part-time judges 'has become increasingly anachronistic and arguably cosmetic'. That is an observation that should be taken seriously. The dwindling of the number of foreign judges tells its own story. When Beijing passed a national security law for the city in 2020, there were 15 of them. The maximum allowed by law is 30. That gives an idea of the size of the talent pool envisaged. Five departed last year and now only five remain. Two of them were hired in 2023 and 2024. But the system is becoming difficult to sustain.
South China Morning Post
11-04-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Australian judge resigns from Hong Kong's top court, sixth to step down in year
An Australian judge has resigned from Hong Kong's top court, becoming the sixth foreign member to step down over the past year, telling the Post on Friday he had observed that the role of non-permanent justices had 'become increasingly anachronistic and arguably cosmetic'. Advertisement Justice Robert French, a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal since 2017, revealed that he had tendered his resignation on March 31. The judge, 78, stressed that he maintained his 'respect for the Hong Kong and international members of the court and their integrity and independence'. 'I reject the proposition that they are somehow complicit in the application by the executive of national security laws or somehow confer on them a spurious legitimacy,' French said, referring to the legislation imposed by Beijing in 2020 and the domestic law enacted last year. The judiciary announced French's resignation earlier on Friday while the government said the presence or absence of individual judges would not undermine the integrity of the judicial system. Justice Robert French had served on the top court since 2017. Photo: Court of Final Appeal French said he would not be making any statement about the national security laws and associated practices but 'there will no doubt be future cases in which their interpretation and application will come before the court'.
Reuters
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Another foreign judge quits Hong Kong's highest court amid national security crackdown
HONG KONG, April 11 (Reuters) - An Australian judge became the latest foreigner to resign from Hong Kong's highest court before the end of his term on Friday as a security crackdown fans international criticism of a perceived erosion of the rule of law in the financial hub. Robert French, a former Chief Justice of Australia's High Court, said he respected Hong Kong and the "integrity and independence" of the remaining foreign judges but that the "role of the non permanent justices on the Court of Final Appeal has become increasingly anachronistic and arguably cosmetic." Britain and China agreed to have non-permanent foreign judges on the court when London handed its former colony over to Chinese rule in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula. Their presence was widely seen by lawyers, businesses and politicians as burnishing the city's rule-of-law credentials after it lost access to Britain's Privy Council for appeals. Noting that the Hong Kong court was the only one in greater China to have foreign judges serving, French said there "may be a substantive role for international judges in Hong Kong in the future as part of an international commercial court." The government confirmed the resignation in a statement, saying it was grateful to French for his valuable contributions and his "support for the rule of law in Hong Kong." Last year, another non-permanent judge, Britain's Jonathan Sumption, quit the court shortly after a landmark verdict in which 14 prominent democratic activists were convicted for subversion, part of a national security crackdown on dissent. Sumption said Hong Kong's rule of law had been " profoundly compromised" and the city was "slowly becoming a totalitarian state." The number of foreign judges on Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal (CFA) has fallen from around 13 to five in recent years, with some raising concerns at the imposition of a sweeping national security law. In his statement to Reuters, French said he rejected any suggestion that foreign judges serving on the CFA were "somehow complicit in the application ... of national security laws or somehow confer on them a spurious legitimacy." Hong Kong's chief justice is allowed to select one foreign judge - typically retired top jurists from Britain, Australia and Canada - to serve on the five-person Court of Final Appeal at any one time.
