THE Chief Justice, Sir Ti Liang Yang, yesterday announced the end of the judicial link with Brunei after 29 years.
Hongkong will not send any more judges to sit either in the Court of Appeal, which he himself presided over, or the High Court in Brunei, he told the opening of the legal year.
The practice of sending judges to sit in Brunei has been criticised in recent years both for moral and practical reasons.
Some judges refused to go there because there is a mandatory punishment of whipping for some crimes.
There was also criticism from human rights organisations which felt it was wrong for Hongkong's judges to be linked with Brunei, which is one of only a few countries which do not subscribe to international human rights treaties on slavery, women's rights and refugees.
Until two years ago, several prisoners of conscience had been held in detention without trial since 1962.