No foreign judges will hear the first national security law case before Hong Kong’s top court

The case centres on a lower court’s decision to grant bail to media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who was accused of collusion under the security law

Court of Final Appeal panels without a foreign judge are practically unheard of, with 690 out of 700 cases heard since the handover including at least one

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There will be no foreign judge present when the Court of Final Appeal hears its first national security law case next week. Photo: Warton Li

Published: 5:48pm, 28 Jan 2021Updated: 11:09pm, 28 Jan 2021

No foreign judges will preside over the first national security law case before Hong Kong’s top court on Monday, when it is slated to review a key provision in the legislation relating to a lower court’s decision to grant bail to media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying.

The absence of any non-permanent foreign jurists in the proceedings has raised eyebrows in the legal sector, though it remained unclear whether the judiciary had invited any judges from abroad, or if the chief executive had named any to oversee national security cases currently pending.

The judiciary’s website on Thursday showed the full appeal hearing, slated for Monday, would be heard before Court of Final Appeal Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, permanent justices Roberto Ribeiro and Joseph Fok, and non-permanent local judges Patrick Chan Siu-oi and Frank Stock. Although Stock was born in what was then Rhodesia and first practised law in Britain, he is considered a local judge as his entire experience on the bench has been in Hong Kong.

New Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal Andrew Cheung will be among the five judges to hear Monday’s case. Photo: Felix Wong

A spokesman for the Chief Executive’s Office confirmed Fok, Chan and Stock were all hand-picked by city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to handle national security law proceedings. The office had previously confirmed Cheung and Ribeiro were designated judges under the Beijing-imposed legislation.

The spokesman refused to say whether any non-permanent foreign judges had been appointed by Lam for national security cases. The judiciary can only select judges approved by the chief executive to hear such proceedings.