Veteran Australian judge James Spigelman resigns from Hong Kong’s top court, citing national security law
- Justice James Spigelman, who took up the role in 2013, steps down two years ahead of schedule
- More Western judges could follow suit, hampering ability of Court of Final Appeal to attract top jurists from overseas, experts say
Justice James Spigelman’s departure, two years before the end of the tenure, was announced in the government gazette published on Friday, which stated that his appointment as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal had been withdrawn by Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor from September 2.
Spigelman told Australia’s national broadcaster that he had resigned for reasons “related to the content of the national security legislation”, but there was no further explanation from him.
The controversy came amid heightened tensions between the Australian and Chinese governments, with Hong Kong also involved.
Opposition lawmaker Dennis Kwok from the legal sector warned that more foreign judges would resign over loss of confidence in the rule of law in Hong Kong, while former director of public prosecutions Grenville Cross expected other members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence alliance led by the United States to pressure their citizens to quit their positions as judges at the city’s Court of Final Appeal.
A spokesman for Lam’s office said: “The chief executive revoked his appointment in accordance with the relevant legislation. Mr Justice Spigelman did not give any reason for his resignation.”