Experts welcome moves to increase transparency in handling complaints against Hong Kong judges, but warn system must not be politicised
- Including lay members in new panel dealing with complaints intended to boost public confidence
- Complaints against judges and court decisions have shot up since 2019 anti-government protests
The Hong Kong judiciary must ensure that its plan to appoint lay members to its system of handling complaints against judges does not become politicised, legal scholars have said.
Involving lay people in handling complaints against judges is not uncommon in some overseas jurisdictions, a check by the Post has found.
But legal experts said that for the system to stay above the political fray, it should be made clear that only complaints regarding judges’ conduct, not their decisions or rulings, would be dealt with.
The judiciary has said it will focus only on allegations regarding judges’ conduct.
“A disgruntled or vexatious litigant will always complain that the judge is biased,” Johannes Chan Man-mun, a public law scholar from the University of Hong Kong, said.