Priscilla Leung calls for bodyguards for judges

Priscilla Leung said it is vital to protect the personal safety of judges in order to maintain the rule of law. File photo: RTHK

Barrister and pro-government legislator Priscilla Leung has called for extra resources like bodyguards to beef up protection for judges who have to decide cases involving anti-government demonstrators.



Speaking on RTHK’s Hong Kong Today, Leung said the court has been placed in the middle of the ongoing political storm, having to adjudicate on all protest-related cases.



The Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker stressed it was unacceptable that abusive comments about Judge Anthea Pang had been spray painted on the High Court building by protesters during a New Year’s Day rally on Wednesday, saying all judges make decisions in strict accordance with the law.



In order to maintain the rule of law, she said it is vital to protect their personal safety by, for example, assigning them bodyguards.



“They [protesters] want to destroy the rule of law and we cannot allow that to happen. That’s why we need to offer extra personal security and protection to all the judges who might need to adjudicate and handle cases in relation to this riot”, she said.



Leung added that extra security guards should also be deployed to protect court buildings from being vandalised.



The judiciary's handling of sensitive political cases has been a target of attack by various groups, particularly since the 2014 Occupy protests,, notably when seven police officers were jailed over assaulting a protester.



Foreign judges presiding in Hong Kong courts have also been targeted by some pro-Beijing groups over their ethnicity.