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SCMP Reporter

Lawmaker says the judiciary should steer clear of politics

The DAB is to challenge whether part-time judges should be allowed to have political affiliations.

Legislator Li Kwok-ying,  of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and vice-chairman of the administration of justice and legal services panel, will raise the issue at a panel meeting scheduled for June 26.

The Civic Party's 130 members, announced last month, include High Court Recorder Jacqueline Leong  and barrister Thomas Au Hing-cheung,  who completed a four-week appointment as a deputy district judge last month.

Ms Leong is one of the most senior barristers in Hong Kong and a former Bar Association chairwoman.

She was previously appointed Recorder in 1997 and her present three-year term ends in  November.

The Guide to Judicial Conduct for Hong Kong judges states that judges should refrain from membership in, or association with, political organisations.

It does not apply to part-time judges.

Recorders and deputy judges are part-time judges. A Recorder usually sits for four weeks a year and has a three-year term.

Mr Li  said judges - full-time and part-time - should stay away from politics in order to maintain their impartiality.

Referring to the Guide to Judicial Conduct, Mr Li said it was unfair to distinguish between full-time and part-time judges.

Under the regulations in force in Britain and Australia, judges, whether full-time or part-time, must sever all ties with political parties.

Mr Li said he was raising the subject at the panel meeting because previous attempts to discuss it had failed to dispel the party's concerns. 'We will press the judiciary to amend the conduct guide to cover part-time judges,' he said.

Civic Party leader Audrey Eu Yuet-mee defended the party's membership.

She said the universal declaration of human rights stated  that members of the judiciary were like other citizens and entitled to freedom of expression, brief, association and assembly.

'I don't see any problem with part-time judges joining political parties so long as they remain inactive members,' she said.

Ms Au said the party had done  a lot of research and found the guidelines covered full-time judges and their participation in political activities, not  part-time judges and  political membership. 'We will release our research result in the justice and legal services panel,' she said.

One of the overseas guidelines she cited was that covering Recorders in London and southeast England, which states that Recorders who are members of parliament, parliamentary candidates or local councillors should not sit as a Recorder within their own constituency or the area covered by the council.

Ms Eu said this inferred the acceptance of party membership for part-time judges.

'That is why Cherie Blair [British Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife] could be a Recorder and keep her Labour Party membership,' said Ms Eu.

A spokeswoman for the judiciary said the guide to judicial conduct stated the situation clearly and said she had nothing to add.

Politics and the bench

Guidelines on judges' political affiliation in other jurisdictions:

BRITAIN All judges, full-time and part-time, must  forgo any kind of political activity and on appointment sever all ties with political parties.

AUSTRALIA  On appointment, a judge must  sever all ties with political parties, although active participation in a political party before appointment would not justify allegations of judicial bias.

UNITED STATES The code of conduct for US judges prohibits judges from engaging in any political activity, including contributing to or fund-raising for political parties.

INTERNATIONAL The Bangalore Principles of Judicial Conduct, signed by a group of chief justices, and tabled to the UN  stipulates that a judge, like any  citizen, is entitled to freedom of expression,  association and assembly, but   should always act  in such a manner as to preserve the dignity of the judicial office and its impartiality and independence.



DAB to mount challenge over part-time judges