Next month, the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission will give Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen its nomination for the next chief justice, who will succeed Andrew Li Kwok-nang in August.
This is a key moment in Hong Kong's history as a special administrative region. There is general agreement that, despite the controversy over universal suffrage, our saving grace is the continuing independence of the judiciary. And Li deserves credit for the contributions he has made during his tenure as the first post-handover chief justice.
Although he has not reached mandatory retirement age, Li is stepping down, no doubt to make room for a younger man who can be expected to remain in office for a considerable time.
Even though the Basic Law provides for 'independent judicial power, including that of final adjudication', it is necessary to remain vigilant to ensure that the principle of an independent judiciary is not eroded, because the mainland does not have such a tradition. Indeed, the mainland's judiciary accepts orders from the executive, which itself is under the authority of the Communist Party. So, when Vice-President Xi Jinping was in Hong Kong in 2008, he asked the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government to provide support and understanding to each other.
Hong Kong's chief justice, of course, is not supposed to make political speeches. However, last month, in delivering his last address to mark the opening of the legal year, Li did insist that 'each jurisdiction has its own constitutional arrangements distributing power between the executive, legislative and judicial branches' and 'the arrangement for one jurisdiction may not be appropriate for another'.
'Hong Kong's system involves checks and balances between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary,' he said. 'The independent judiciary has a vital constitutional role to ensure that the acts of the executive and the legislature comply fully with the Basic Law and ... that our fundamental rights and freedoms ... are fully safeguarded.'
These things needed to be said, and in a non-confrontational fashion. It is important that Beijing should understand that Hong Kong has a different tradition and that it is vital to preserve it. It is even more important that Hongkongers do not forget their traditions and values.