Govt refutes negative personal opinions of Lord Sumption

The government voiced its displeasure on Tuesday and disagreed with the now-resigned Court of Final Appeal non-permanent judge’s personal comments on the rule of law and independent judicial power in Hong Kong.

In an article published in the Financial Times on Monday (Jun 10) titled “The rule of law in Hong Kong is in grave danger”, Lord Jonathan Sumption – a British judge who recently resigned from the city’s top court – said “the rule of law is profoundly compromised in any area about which the government feels strongly.”

He noted that Hong Kong’s judges “have to operate in an impossible political environment created by China” and mentioned “a symptom of a growing malaise in the Hong Kong judiciary.”

The SAR government on Tuesday strongly disagreed with Sumption’s personal opinions, stating that there is no truth that the courts are under any political pressure from the central or SAR government in the adjudication of national security cases or any other type of case and that there is no decline in the rule of law in the city.

It also added that Hong Kong’s constitutional order guarantees the independent exercise of judicial power.

The government said each sovereign state has the inherent right under public international law to adopt the constitutional order and political and legal systems that best suit its actual situation and the overall interests of its people.

“When adjudicating cases of offenses endangering national security, as in any other case, judges remain independent and impartial in performing their judicial duties, free from any interference,” the statement wrote.

The government stated that the actual threat of independent exercise of judicial power instead comes from external powers, who attempt to interfere with legal proceedings that reach verdicts that do not meet their liking, which are contrary to fundamental principles of international law and international relations.

“There is no truth in saying that Hong Kong is becoming a ‘totalitarian’ city,” it said.

Separately, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal said Tuesday that the Judiciary does not comment on others’ opinions on them.

“It respects everyone’s right to have their views, but opinions voiced publicly could amount to pressure on or interference with the courts’ administration of justice and should be expressed, if at all, with the greatest circumspection,” Cheung said.

The Hong Kong Bar Association said it has “every confidence in the independence of our judiciary” and urge the public to support the work of judges and every effort to safeguard judicial independence and to uphold the rule of law in the city.