Hong Kong magistrate accused of protest bias cleared after facing multiple complaints, as judiciary says it will publish lower court decision summaries online
- Stanley Ho faced multiple complaints over his rulings in eight cases, but they were dismissed in six of those
- Two cases remain to be decided with Department of Justice challenging sentences handed down
The judiciary also said on Thursday it would publish written summaries of lower court decisions considered to be of public interest on its website, to address the increasing number of complaints against judges.
Against a backdrop of increasing polarisation in Hong Kong, activists from both sides of the political divide have urged the public to file complaints against those judges whose conduct they deem to favour their rivals in protest-related hearings.
Magistrate Stanley Ho Chun-yiu had faced a multitude of complaints in relation to eight cases he presided over. While complaints for six of those were dismissed, two were set aside until the conclusion of a Department of Justice application to review the sentences in those cases.
“The chief magistrate emphasised that the decisions and sentences given in the above-mentioned cases were judicial decisions made independently by the magistrate,” the judiciary said, confirming Ho had been cleared in relation to those six cases.