Hong Kong’s legal sector faces uncertainty as top guns set to step down
Justice Secretary Rimsky Yuen and prosecutions chief Keith Yeung expected to leave, and Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma will reach retirement age in 2021
Uncertainty looms over Hong Kong’s legal sector as those at the helm of the city’s courts and the Justice Department are expected to leave within the term of the next chief executive.
Among them will be Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung – who handles all legal matters for the government – and Director of Public Prosecutions Keith Yeung Kar-hung.
It is expected that Yuen will step down when the city’s next leader assumes office in July.
“The current contract of Mr Keith Yeung, SC, will end on 8 September 2017,” the Department of Justice said. But it stopped short of commenting on Yuen’s situation.
Local newspaper Sing Tao Daily reported that Yeung was expected to become a Court of First Instance judge, while Yuen would return to private practice.
Commenting on the uncertainties, veteran barrister Ronny Tong Ka-wah said the changes might affect some constitutional matters being handled by the city, although it would not “turn the world upside down”.
Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, 58, who heads the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, and Johnny Mok Shu-luen, who represented the government in a legal bid to unseat four lawmakers, are among those being tipped for the post of justice secretary.
Tong said it would be important for the next justice secretary not to be too closely associated with Beijing because of the political nature of the role.
However, he said he did not think the legal system would be affected much by the likely departures.
The Legislative Council’s legal representative, Dennis Kwok, agreed with Tong, saying the rule of law “depends on our system and not individuals”.
