Li's outburst alarming

IT is alarming and deplorable that Simon Li Fook-sean passed such an irresponsible judgment disqualifying Martin Lee Chu-ming and Szeto Wah from taking the ''through train''.

Mr Li's statement runs against the spirit of the rule of law.

Back in 1989, when referring to a proposal to make the future Bill of Rights superior to all other ordinances of Hongkong, Mr Li said he had never ''heard about certain laws being supreme over another in the history of the British legal system''.

It is inconceivable that Mr Li, a former Court of Appeal Judge in Hongkong, has no concept that the constitution of a country has over-riding consideration over other laws.

If Mr Li, who once presided over a common law court in Hongkong, fails to comprehend British constitutional heritage, how could he have understood and applied the principles of a Western liberal constitution when he helped draft the Basic Law as a memberof the drafting committee? Today, as convenor for the legal sub-group of the working panel of the SAR Preparatory Committee, will Mr Li understand and apply the principles of the Hongkong judicial system to ensure that the rights to fair trial and to be presumed innocent until convicted will be maintained beyond 1997? An added worry is that a significant number of high-ranking magistrates and judges will retire before the turn of the century.

Will future Hongkong magistrates and judges be strong-minded enough to defend the independence of the judiciary without succumbing to political interference and preserve the cherished spirit of the rule of law? K. Y. LI Happy Valley