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It was an unusual assignment to start with, a retired chief justice of Canada sitting on the bench of Hong Kong’s highest court. The timing made it extraordinary.

Not only did Beverley McLachlin get her first taste of being a part-time judge in the territory in recent weeks, she did it as a protest movement of historic proportions swirled around her. That movement is aimed in part to defend the legal system from Chinese interference.

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But McLachlin said her initial experience on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal left her convinced the body is immune to such outside pressure, and unlikely to suffer “deterioration.”

“The law is very rigorously applied. It’s a very high level of judging,” she said in an interview Monday. “The court is independent.”

One major concern of some legal experts involves the right of China’s National People’s Congress to essentially override court rulings in Hong Kong with what are called “interpretations.” There have been a handful of controversial ones in recent years.