Rule of law under no threat: judge

Hong Kong people are too intelligent and independent to allow outside forces to erode the rule of law and all it stands for, a retiring judge said yesterday.

'I don't think we should put under the carpet the rather negative attitude in Hong Kong about the independence of the bench and the rule of law,' Mr Justice Barry Mortimer said in his outgoing speech in the Court of Appeal.

'I think it's good that this matter has been raised because it's surely time that we turn to more positive thoughts.

'The independence of the bench and the rule of law in this society is certainly not under any kind of threat. This society is far too intelligent, far too independent for any other result.

'One only has to appreciate that the rule of law comes not only from outside but from the heart.

'Eventually a society realises that the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary is in its own self-interest.