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Hong Kong national security law: justice minister seeks to calm fears over impending legislation and says group of judges will be appointed to hear cases
- Teresa Cheng says she does not believe city’s leader will be appointing judges to hear specific cases
- Secretary for justice cited example of list of judges to hear commercial cases
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Hong Kong’s justice minister has suggested the city’s leader can appoint a group of judges for a pool of professionals that can be drawn from to hear national security cases, rather than picking a specific judge each time.
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Seeking to calm fears over Beijing’s reported move to have the chief executive appoint judges to hear the cases, Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah on Monday tried to reassure the public that it would not undermine the city’s judicial independence.
“My view [on the chief executive’s appointment of judges] is that it does not necessarily mean the chief executive would appoint a specific judge to handle a case,” Cheng said, citing as an example a list of judges assigned to hear commercial cases because of their expertise in the area.
“So, my interpretation is that the chief executive is to appoint a list of judges,” she said, also noting that the Basic Law already stated that judges in Hong Kong’s courts “shall be appointed by the chief executive”.
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She added that the city’s mini-constitution also guaranteed that the courts “shall exercise judicial power independently, free from any interference”.
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