Public has right to air its opinions
Your editorial ('Allow maids case to take its course', October 1) is right to describe as 'extraordinary' the recent call to the public by the secretary for justice to refrain from making comments on the foreign domestic helper abode case that might prejudice or affect the judge's adjudication.
Since Mr Justice Johnson Lam Man-hon was deciding the case by himself, there was never the slightest chance of his being affected by public comment, as the judgment makes clear.
Although attention has naturally focused on the abode issue, the judgment also considers the public discussion of the case and its possible impact.
The judge explains that it is his duty to apply the law without regard to extraneous matters, and that none of the views expressed by the public 'seek to influence the court in the judicial process'.
The judge observes that 'I have no intention of stopping people from having discussion on the topic based on their own perspectives', and it is to be hoped that this has been clearly heard by the secretary for justice and any others who wish to stifle legitimate public comment on issues of general concern.
Instead of making pronouncements that might cause alarm or misunderstanding, the secretary for justice should in future reassure the public that our judges are fully capable of adjudicating impartially upon cases, uninfluenced by extra- judicial comment.