Judicial reforms should not be based on unhappiness over court rulings, Hong Kong’s retiring top judge warns in speech reflecting on decade-long tenure

Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma also rejects any idea that he faced pressure from Beijing or local governments while at the helm

He mounts robust defence of city’s judicial independence, but acknowledges challenges under the national security law

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Hong Kong Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma met the media on Tuesday ahead of his retirement in five days. Photo: Robert Ng

Published: 12:56pm, 5 Jan 2021Updated: 11:53pm, 5 Jan 2021

Hong Kong’s outgoing Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li on Tuesday warned that judicial reform should not be based on dissatisfaction with court rulings, while also rejecting any notion of pressure from the local or Beijing governments influencing decisions during his decade-long tenure.

Summing up his work as the city’s top judge ahead of his departure on Sunday, he mounted a robust defence of judicial independence, and weighed in on the Beijing-imposed national security law, acknowledging the courts’ hands were tied as they had not invented the legislation but were only required to apply it.

Ma remained hopeful the judiciary would continue to dispense justice within its ambit, giving assurances that judges would stay true to their oath to hand down impartial and fair rulings without fear or favour, despite a highly politicised atmosphere.

Geoffrey Ma was first made a judge in 2001, when appointed to the Court of First Instance. Photo: Robert Ng

“If there is any reform that is required, give us the details, and we will consider it,” he said in response to suggestions from Beijing that the city was due for judicial reform. “But it is not particularly satisfactory to call for reform on the basis of a result one does not like. It is certainly not a good starting point, or acceptable, to say, ‘I want reforms to ensure I always get the result which I want’.”

Ma, 64, also rejected public criticism from either side of the political divide over court rulings that have been seen as too lenient or too harsh towards opposition activists prosecuted for protest-related offences over the past two years.

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Judicial reforms should not be based on unhappiness over court rulings, Hong Kong’s retiring top judge warns in speech reflecting on decade-long tenure

Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma also rejects any idea that he faced pressure from Beijing or local governments while at the helm He mounts robust defence of city’s judicial independence, but acknowledges challenges under the national security law

Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma also rejects any idea that he faced pressure from Beijing or local governments while at the helm

He mounts robust defence of city’s judicial independence, but acknowledges challenges under the national security law