Baroness Hale of Richmond, the president of the Supreme Court, will sit for a month in Hong Kong’s highest court as the former colony’s judiciary attempts to demonstrate its independence from Beijing.

Lady Hale, who declared Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament illegal in September, will take a temporary seat on the bench of Hong Kong’s court of final appeal in the new year.

She turns 75 at the end of January and is required to stand down from the Supreme Court but can still serve as an overseas, non-permanent judge on the Hong Kong bench. The court of final appeal took over from Hong Kong’s own supreme court after Britain handed over the colony to China in 1997.

Lady Hale’s move comes amid violence