Letters | Hong Kong’s rule of law remains strong despite foreign judges leaving

Readers discuss the state of judicial independence in the city, the war crimes arrest warrants requested over Gaza, and where to host a Ukraine peace summit

Hong Kong courts

Letters

Published: 11:30am, 19 Jun 2024

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The recent departure of three non-permanent judges from Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal will not disable the judiciary’s function as court of law. The departing judges have all confirmed that the city’s judges are professional and independent in performing their judicial functions. Judicial independence and the integrity of judges in Hong Kong are indubitable.

The political situation in Hong Kong has been complicated since the West began attacking the city’s rule of law. In 2021, Jonathan Sumption, one of the departing judges, wrote in The Times that since 2020, “there have been calls for British judges to withdraw”. In 2022, Robert Reed and Patrick Hodge stepped down, as the United Kingdom announced that its serving judges would not sit on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal.

United States congressmen introduced a bill calling for sanctions against Hong Kong judges in 2023, a move Sumption described as “crude, counterproductive and unjust”. Days before the three judges’ departure, The Independent ran an article attacking the independence of Hong Kong’s British judges.

Despite political pressure, the overseas judges in Hong Kong have remained highly professional and decided cases based on the law. Explaining the judgment in a rioting case, Sumption said: “The Court of Final Appeal rejected the excessively broad submissions of the prosecutors about the test for participation in a riot. The result was a statement of the law similar to that which would apply in England.” His then colleague Leonard Hoffmann said the judgment in the case of a convicted journalist was upheld within the framework of the Public Order Ordinance enacted by the British in 1967.

The court of law is the cornerstone of Hong Kong’s prosperity, and should be maintained no matter how the political situation changes. Only the law prevails inside Hong Kong’s courts, not politics or ideology. All professional judges will apply the law when they sit on Hong Kong courts. This protects foreign investment by ensuring the certainty of the rule of law. Given the independence of the judiciary and its function as court of law, foreign investors would be confident about investing in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong, an international financial and trading centre, is the only city in China practising the common law. The Court of Final Appeal needs overseas judges to maintain connections with other common law jurisdictions and the faith of foreign investors. Political pressure in the West could make it challenging to bring in overseas judges, but I am confident that Hong Kong will always have professional judges who uphold the rule of law.

Ambrose Lam San-keung, Legislative Council member (legal constituency)

War crimes unacceptable no matter the ideology

Human behaviour is far more complex than reductionist ideology. Right and wrong, good and bad, lawful and unlawful – these all coexist within the human condition. This is true for individuals and sovereign nations.

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has requested arrest warrants for leaders from Israel and Hamas on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel and the latter’s subsequent military operations in Gaza.

The ICC prosecutor said the Hamas leaders could bear criminal responsibility for crimes including extermination, murder and taking hostages. He also said the Israeli leaders could bear criminal responsibility for crimes including starvation of civilians, intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population and extermination.

Israel’s military operations in Gaza have had a catastrophic impact on the civilian population, causing widespread death, destruction and displacement. Women and children have been disproportionately affected, and both Israel and Hamas are on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ latest list of states and militias endangering children.

Leaders who govern with one hand on a religious text and the other on a gun lose relevance in today’s multipolar world. The request for arrest warrants is the first step to ensuring global leaders, military forces and arms suppliers are held accountable, directly or indirectly. This will help ensure the benefits of negotiation, resolution and peaceful coexistence outweigh the use of war to settle disputes.

Dr Michael Walton, New South Wales, Australia

China should call its own Ukraine peace summit

I am writing in response to “Skipping Ukraine summit is ‘not unreasonable’” (June 14). China has stated that a peace conference “needs to meet three important elements”: recognition from Russia and Ukraine, equal participation and fair discussion.

With the war entering its third year, the situation in Ukraine is getting worse and people are suffering. Rather than wait for the elements to fall into place, China should make things happen. China announcing a peace conference built around the three elements could lead to a breakthrough, and there’s no better place to host that conference than Hong Kong.

This would demonstrate to the world that China is a peace-loving global power and determined to act. It also puts Hong Kong back into international headlines in a new light. The conference might not succeed in its first attempt, but the effort we put in would be clear to the international community.

Tony Fung, North Point