‘Nine foreign judges to stay on HK’s top court’

Nine foreign judges from Britain, Australia and Canada confirmed on Thursday they will stay on Hong Kong’s top court after two senior British justices resigned.

Judges from common law jurisdictions are invited to sit as non-permanent members at Hong Kong’s top court.

UK Supreme Court President Robert Reed and fellow judge Patrick Hodge resigned from the Court of Final Appeal on Wednesday, saying the government had “departed from values of political freedom and freedom of expression”.

Nine of the 10 remaining overseas judges – who unlike Reed and Hodge are retired – have said they will remain, including five from the UK, three from Australia and one from Canada.

British judge Robert Walker is yet to declare his decision.

The five British judges who will stay are Leonard Hoffman, Jonathan Sumption, Lawrence Collins and two former presidents of the UK Supreme Court, Nicholas Phillips and David Neuberger.

In a joint statement sent to AFP, the five British judges said they were “entirely satisfied” with the independence and integrity of the Court of Final Appeal.

“At a critical time in the history of Hong Kong, it is more than ever important to support the work of its appellate courts in their task of maintaining the rule of law and reviewing the acts of the executive,” they said.

Australian judges William Gummow, Anthony Murray Gleeson and Robert French as well as former Canadian chief justice Beverley McLachlin would also retain their seats.

“We do not intend to resign and we support the judges of the Court of Final Appeal in their commitment to judicial independence,” Gummow, Gleeson and French told AFP in a joint statement.

McLachlin also told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper that she would remain. (AFP)