National security law: Hong Kong chief justice defends time taken to put 47 opposition activists on trial after arrests a year ago

Chief Justice Andrew Cheung says the courts should not sidestep necessary procedural steps ‘for the sake of having a speedy trial’

Courts remain fair, uninfluenced by ‘political or other personal considerations’, he says

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Chief Justice Andrew Cheung. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 5:00pm, 24 Jan 2022Updated: 11:44am, 2 Jun 2022

Hong Kong’s chief justice has defended the length of time it has taken the judiciary to hold trials for 47 opposition activists arrested in January last year, saying the courts should not sidestep necessary procedural steps “for the sake of having a speedy trial”.

The group, an assortment of pro-democracy figures and social activists, held pre-election primaries in July 2020 that were later declared illegal under the national security law. Thirty-three of them have been held behind bars by national security judges since January last year.

“After all you want to have a trial which is procedurally fair,” Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nang told the media on Monday, after attending the opening of the new judicial year in which he once again defended the city’s judicial independence, dismissing those who had cast what he described as “unsubstantiated doubts” over it.

“Judicial independence in Hong Kong exists as a fact,” he said in his speech.

“Criticisms of court decisions which are made without first ascertaining the facts in a case or reading and understanding the reasons for the court’s decision are as meaningless as they are hollow. So is any unsubstantiated doubt over the court’s independence.”

At a media session after the ceremony, Cheung was repeatedly grilled over the stringent bail conditions and the year-long delay of the trial of the 47 activists.