The belated vindication of Donald Tsang Yam-kuen cannot undo what he has suffered. During his seven-year ordeal, the city’s former leader was tried five times in open court, jailed for eight months for misconduct in office, and had his savings almost emptied because of the protracted legal battle. But the ruling by the Court of Final Appeal proves that judicial independence and the rule of law are alive and well. Tsang is the most senior Hong Kong official charged for corruption and misconduct. Despite unsubstantiated claims that the prosecution was vindictive, the legal process has taken its course. He was later convicted for failing to declare an interest in a property deal with a businessman, an outcome that shows no one is above the law. But like anyone else, he was entitled to pursue justice through appeals, albeit they were rather expensive in his case. Apart from paying his legal team, he was earlier ordered by the lower court to pay up to HK$5 million in legal costs, later reduced by one-fifth. The top court ruled that jurors in the previous trial were not properly directed on what constitutes wilful non-disclosure. A conscious but erroneous decision not to disclose was not the same as a wilful failure to disclose, or conceal, it said. The seriousness of non-disclosure, another important element for conviction, was also not adequately analysed. Long before the trial began, Tsang openly apologised for the loss of public confidence in his government after the media exposed his questionable dealings with tycoons. What he did was no doubt politically and morally inappropriate; but the threshold for criminal conviction is much higher. Donald Tsang wins final appeal against criminal misconduct sentence It’s a pity that the vindication only came after he had served out his sentence. While his name is finally cleared, it remains a dark chapter in his life and the city’s history. Tsang was worried his conviction would become a precedent that might result in officials shying away from actively taking part in the decision-making process to avoid suspicion. But whichever way the court ruled, the case should make public officers more mindful of the risk of running into a conflict of interests. As Tsang remorsefully said after the scandal came to light – officials need to be “whiter than white”.