Part-time judges' political ties backed
Part-time judges will continue to be allowed to maintain affiliations with political organisations, following support from members of the legal community and a human rights group.
The secretary for justice had no wish to amend guidelines that require full-time judges to stay out of politics, but put no such restrictions on part-timers, legislators were told yesterday.
The decision ends a debate initiated last month by a legislator over the Civic Party membership of High Court Recorder Jacqueline Leong and barrister Thomas Au Hing-cheung, who completed a four-week appointment as a deputy district judge in April.
Li Kwok-ying, of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, argued that all judges should stay away from politics in order to maintain their impartiality.
The Frontier legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing said there was no point in dragging on the debate since the Judiciary Administration, representatives of the legal profession, as well as Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor had already indicated that they saw no problem in the existing Guide to Judicial Conduct.
The guide states that full-time judges should refrain from association with political organisations. But this does not apply to part-time judges - although different considerations would be taken of more active participation by a part-time judge in political activities.
Philip Dykes SC, chairman of the Bar Council, said that prohibiting part-time judges from political participation would discourage people with potential from devoting their time to public service.
Sally Wong, deputy judiciary administrator (development), said there was a channel for parties to raise concerns about judicial impartiality because of political affiliation. She said the secretary for justice had no wish to amend the guideline.
