Hong Kong chief justice urges judges to uphold integrity amid overseas pressure, hits back at ‘distorted’ perceptions of rule of law
- In speech marking opening of legal year, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung calls on judges to hold firm against ‘interference’
- Top judge also underscores importance of retaining best talent to safeguard city’s common law system
In his speech marking the opening of the legal year on Monday, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung also underscored the importance of retaining the best talent to safeguard the city’s common law system.
“In the past few years, the work of the judiciary has often been viewed through the prism of the national security law,” Cheung said.
“This way of looking at things necessarily results in a very narrow or even distorted picture of the breadth and width of our judicial work, and more generally, the state of the rule of law and judicial independence in Hong Kong.”
His call for judges to resist what he called outside interference comes ahead of legislative work on Hong Kong’s own national security law, required by Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law mini-constitution. The legislation is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.