Judicial independence has long been recognised as vital if Hong Kong is to remain a free society subject to the rule of law. As such, it needs to be defended vigorously whenever it seems to come under attack.
But judges necessarily have to adopt a low profile and it would be unseemly for the judiciary to respond publicly every time a controversy emerges. It is only on special occasions, such as the holding of an academic conference, that an opportunity arises for Hong Kong's chief justice to make a public statement on behalf of the judiciary.
One such opportunity is the annual opening of the legal year. Thus, it was significant that last week, at the opening of the 2009 legal year, Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang spoke out in support of judicial independence.
'Judicial independence is absolutely necessary to enable judges to perform their constitutional duty of adjudicating disputes, whether between citizens or between citizen and government, impartially without fear or favour,' he said.
The last part of the sentence was especially significant: Mr Justice Li made clear that the judiciary's job is not to support the government in adjudicating disputes that pit citizens against the administration.
This reiteration is important because, six months ago, Vice-President Xi Jinping , the most senior official in Beijing responsible for Hong Kong affairs, exhorted the three branches of government - the executive, the legislature and the judiciary - to support each other to maintain Hong Kong's stability and prosperity.
The statement may have been delivered in all innocence, but it still reflected a basic misunderstanding of the Hong Kong legal system, which is fundamentally different from that on the mainland.