‘If everybody criticises you, you probably got it right’: ex-chief justice Geoffrey Ma reflects on challenges for Hong Kong’s courts
- Speaking to the media for first time since retiring, Ma lays out his expectations for Hong Kong’s rule of law at halfway point of city’s promised 50 years of a high degree of autonomy
- Placing the work of the courts under lens of politics ‘undermines the independence of the judiciary’, he warns
Judges often cite cases to put their points across, and former chief justice Geoffrey Ma Tao-li has one from four years ago to underscore the challenges Hong Kong’s courts have encountered in the past and will continue to face in the future.
“After the decision came out, both sides, or all sides, of the political spectrum criticised the court,” recalled Ma, who led the judiciary between 2010 and 2021.
“The joke was that if everybody criticises you, you probably got it right. But actually, it’s not that funny because it shows that people’s mindset is that they can’t get away from associating law with politics.”
Speaking to the media for the first time since he retired, 66-year-old Ma laid out his expectations for Hong Kong’s rule of law at the halfway point of the 50 years that Beijing promised the city would enjoy a high degree of autonomy under the “one country, two systems” governing principle.
“I really firmly believe … the system we have will survive, and easily survive, beyond the next 25 years, if it is a system that objectively delivers to the community what the community expects,” he said.