Court on course
After some uncertain times, the Court of Final Appeal is well on course to become a respected and firmly founded institution which sets the seal on the judicial system.
The announcement from visiting Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine of Lairg that Britain will provide two serving Law Lords to the court will give added weight and authority to a new institution in its early days.
Apart from the vast experience of these Lords of Appeal, their presence on the panel of judges may encourage other common law jurisdictions to offer the services of some of their top judges, thereby providing an international pool of talent and experience which can be called on when required.
Like Hong Kong, which has a shortage of experienced judges to sit on top courts, several countries that share the common law are hard-pressed to spare their judges to work overseas. There is usually a heavy caseload at home for such august legal authorities. At one point, it looked as if it would be difficult to establish a panel of foreign judges for the Court of Final Appeal which would encompass a wide enough area of legal expertise.
Fears that foreign judges dilute the doctrine of 'Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong' are misplaced. This is an international city, with a unique system encompassing elements of East and West. It has chosen to retain the common law, which is codified in English and the nuances of which do not instantly translate into Chinese.
We are still in the formative stages of introducing Cantonese to the judicial system. This is something that should have been done long ago, but such a sweeping change cannot be achieved overnight. When cases are automatically heard in Cantonese in lower courts, and more judgments are written into the law books here, it will be time to think of monolingual judges. An internationalised court is a plus in these early days, and certainly no reason to make anyone in Hong Kong feel inferior.
