British Judges To Withdraw From The Hong Kong Court Of Final Appeal
On March 30, 2022, the U.K. Foreign Secretary issued a statement in support of the withdrawal of serving U.K. judges from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. As the Foreign Secretary Liz Truss commented, “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 legitimizing oppression.”
Over the years, British judges have played an important role in supporting the judiciary in Hong Kong. However, recent years have seen the ever-growing erosion of fundamental rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, and especially, after the imposition of the controversial National Security Law in 2020. The Deputy Prime Minister, Justice Secretary and Lord Chancellor, Dominic Raab, commented, “Since 2020 and the introduction of the national security law, our assessment of the situation in Hong Kong is that it has shifted too far from the freedoms that we hold dear – making free expression and honest critique of the state a criminal offense.” This suppression of human rights put into question the future of British judges in the Hong Kong’s judiciary.
Judges wearing robes and horsehair wigs attend a ceremony to mark the opening of the legal year in ... [+]
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
The move comes weeks after Ben Rogers, a British national and co-founder of Hong Kong Watch, a non-governmental organization monitoring human rights in Hong Kong, was threatened with investigations and prosecutions. The letter from the Hong Kong National Security Bureau and a notice from the Hong Kong Police ordered him to take down the Hong Kong Watch website within 72 hours of receipt of the notice. The letter alleged that a “criminal investigation reveals that Hong Kong Watch has been engaging in activities seriously interfering in the affairs of the [Hong Kong Special Administrative Region] and jeopardizing the national security of the People’s Republic of China’ and as such, committed the offense of collusion. This offense triggers punishment of no less than three years’ imprisonment.
Will Judges step down from the now dysfunctional Hong Kong Court of Appeal