Explainer | What is Hong Kong’s overseas judge appointment system and will it be kept?
- High-profile departures of two British non-permanent judges from top Hong Kong court puts spotlight on mechanism
UK judge Jonathan Sumption’s vocal departure from Hong Kong’s top court has triggered a political storm, with Beijing repeatedly condemning him for “slander” after he declared the city was “slowly becoming a totalitarian state”.
Sumption, 75, resigned alongside Lawrence Collins, 83, both former UK Supreme Court justices, from their roles as non-permanent judges on the Court of Final Appeal earlier this month, with the latter also attributing his departure to the political situation in Hong Kong.
In the same week, Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin, 80, also announced she would retire once her term ended this summer, saying she intended to spend more time with her family.
Their departures left the city with seven overseas non-permanent judges serving on the apex court after the summer, down from a high of 15 in 2020.
Here the Post covers what you need to know about Hong Kong’s practice of appointing judges from overseas common law jurisdictions, a system that has been ditched by some former UK colonies, as well as the recent political row.
1. Why do foreign judges sit on Hong Kong’s top court, and how does it work?
