Top HK judges: 'judicial independence under assault'

Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma at the opening of the legal year in January. Photo: Reuters

The independence of Hong Kong's judicial system is under assault from the Communist Party leadership in Beijing according to senior judges in the SAR.



Three of Hong Kong's most senior judges told the Reuters News Agency that the independent judiciary, the cornerstone of the city's broad freedoms, is in a fight for its survival.



Beijing's effort to hobble the judiciary is multi-pronged, according to more than two dozen interviews with judges, leading lawyers and diplomats in Hong Kong.



The state-controlled press on the mainland has warned Hong Kong judges not to "absolve" protesters arrested during last year's demonstrations.



Judges and lawyers say there are signs Beijing is trying to limit the authority of Hong Kong courts to rule on core constitutional matters. And people close to the city's top judge, Geoffrey Ma, say he has to contend with Communist Party officials pushing Beijing's view that the rule of law ultimately must be a tool to preserve one-party rule.



That tension flared into view last September when Ma spoke at the International Bar Association conference in Seoul about the rule of law, including the extensive human rights protections built into Hong Kong's legal system. Judges must not be influenced by "extraneous factors such as politics," Ma said.



As Ma finished, said three witnesses, a representative from AllBright Law Offices, a leading mainland Chinese legal firm that co-sponsored the lunch event, rushed to the podium to object to what he said was a "political" speech by the chief justice. Amid gasps and snorts of derision, the man was escorted from the microphone, the witnesses said. AllBright did not respond to questions.



Some in the SAR's legal establishment are now bracing for the possibility that Beijing will begin to meddle in the appointment of new judges, following objections by some pro-Beijing lawmakers in Hong Kong to two recent appointments on the top court.



With the search under way for at least one new justice for the top court, the three judges said they feared vacancies could create an opening for Beijing.



Any intervention in the selection process, said one of the justices, would likely spark resignations on the bench.



"We're worried that they are losing patience, and will find ways of tightening the screws," the judge said, referring to the Beijing leadership. "We know from our interactions with senior mainland judges that they just don't get Hong Kong at all," said the justice, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They always want to know why Hong Kong is so confused and chaotic, and not 'patriotic.'"



A spokesman for Chief Executive Carrie Lam said the central government in Beijing had "time and again made it clear" that it would continue to fully implement the "one country, two systems" principle guiding Hong Kong's autonomous relationship with its Chinese sovereign.



Beijing, he added, was committed to the Basic Law, the city's mini-constitution that protects its rights and freedoms.



The mainland authorities did not respond to questions from Reuters. A judiciary spokeswoman said Ma "would not offer any comment".



Several friends and former colleagues of Ma say he is showing signs of strain from the job, including having to continually defend the integrity of the courts. This was evident, they say, when Ma appeared at a start-of-the-year gathering of judges in January.



Ma confirmed that it would be his last time opening the annual event and that he would be retiring in January next year, when he turns 65, forgoing his option of an extension.



Some people close to Ma say that while he hasn't been pushed to leave, the constant battle to safeguard the judiciary has worn on him. His job includes dealing with visiting mainland judges and briefings from locally based Beijing officials, which can be tough going, these people say.



While they apparently know better than to meddle in individual cases, say the people close to Ma, the mainland judges and officials constantly seek to push Beijing's "patriotic" agenda by stressing the importance of the judiciary in defending China's sovereignty and national security.



"I know he tires of the apparatchiks whose Communist Party mantra has no room for even starting to grasp the separation of powers that exists in Hong Kong, or the real meaning or value of judicial independence," said one person who knows the chief justice. "Sometimes he stops engaging … and simply tries to talk football." (Reuters)