Hong Kong lawmakers back appointment of leading British judge to city’s top court

Legislative Council subcommittee endorses adding Mr Justice Patrick Hodge as non-permanent member of Court of Final Appeal

During debate some question why city can’t recruit from other jurisdictions such as Singapore and Malaysia

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The appointment of Mr Justice Patrick Hodge brings the number of overseas judges serving as non-permanent members of the Court of Final Appeal to 14. Photo: AP

Published: 3:39pm, 28 Oct 2020Updated: 11:45pm, 28 Oct 2020

Hong Kong lawmakers endorsed the appointment of a veteran British judge to the city’s top court on Wednesday, and some suggested broadening the pool of overseas judges to include more common law jurisdictions such as Singapore and Malaysia.

The appointment of Mr Justice Patrick Hodge brings the number of overseas judges serving as non-permanent members of the Court of Final Appeal to 14. Hodge currently serves as the deputy president of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

At a meeting of the Legislative Council’s subcommittee on proposed senior judicial appointment, both the pro-establishment and opposition camps asked whether it was possible to source candidates from more common law jurisdictions, apart from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, where the current list of overseas judges come from.

Opposition lawmaker Kenneth Leung questioned the judiciary for confining the choices to these countries, while pro-establishment lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun suggested expanding the pool of consideration.

Mr Justice Patrick Hodge has been appointed to Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal. Photo: Handout

“In Singapore, India and Malaysia, there are many law reports published in these jurisdictions, with a lot of common law cases, I can’t believe we can’t find even one single eminently qualified judge from the Southeast Asia jurisdiction,” said Priscilla Leung, who is a member of the Basic Law Committee that advises Beijing on matters relating to the city’s mini-constitution.