Hong Kong government hits out at ex-governor Chris Patten for criticising Lai ruling

Authorities condemn Chris Patten for remarks about British judge who dismissed appeal by media mogul over conviction for taking part in banned march

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Chris Patten told the media the verdict “revealed the rapidly deteriorating state of the rule of law in Hong Kong”. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:54pm, 14 Aug 2024Updated: 12:58am, 15 Aug 2024

Hong Kong authorities have condemned the city’s last colonial governor, Chris Patten, for his “wanton personal vilification” of a British judge who joined colleagues on the top court in dismissing an appeal by jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying and six former opposition lawmakers over their convictions for taking part in a banned march.

The government on Wednesday also hit out at Patten’s “malicious slandering” of the judgment by the Court of Final Appeal the day before, which upheld the convictions of the seven for taking part in an illegal march during the 2019 anti-government protests.

Patten told the media the verdict “revealed the rapidly deteriorating state of the rule of law in Hong Kong”.

“This unjust verdict is made worse by the fact that Lord Neuberger, a former head of Britain’s Supreme Court, was a party to this decision,” Patten said, referring to the non-permanent overseas judge sitting on the city’s top court.

The Hong Kong government slammed Patten’s criticism of Neuberger.

“Patten’s criticisms against Lord Neuberger … who handled the relevant case were completely groundless and unjustified personal attacks aiming to smear and slander the [judge’s] reputation, which fully exposed Patten’s malicious attempt to undermine the system of non-permanent judges,” the statement read.

In June, two British judges resigned from Hong Kong’s top court, attributing their departure to the city’s political situation. City leader John Lee Ka-chiu has said Hong Kong would maintain the practice of having foreign judges to show the world the transparency of the judicial system.