'Judges Should Not Comment On Political Issues'

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung and Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma have both said judges should refrain from commenting on political issues, after several judges reportedly expressed deep concern over proposals to change the extradition laws.

Neither would directly address a Reuters report which quoted anonymously several Hong Kong judges who expressed concern that they would face undue pressure when considering requests to extradite fugitives to the mainland.

Ma said that judges should not, in general, pass public comment on controversial matters, in particular when those matters were likely to come before the courts.

Cheung said the Basic Law guaranteed that judges would not be subject to any outside interference and would not face any legal consequences as a result of their decisions. He said judges in Hong Kong had experience in handling extradition cases, and had rejected applications for extradition in the past.

"Our courts have experience already in handling a number of extradition cases," Cheung said on Wednesday. "So we've got experience in the courts. The judges know how to deal with the cases before them so we've got expertise, professionalism.

"I'm sure that our judges will be able to deal with these cases coming up in the future."

The Judiciary said it would not comment on the proposed amendments to the Fugitive Offenders Ordinance, nor on media reports relating to them.

Under the proposed amendments, the chief executive would be able to initiate extraditions to any jurisdiction, including those Hong Kong does not have a formal agreement with. Officials say the changes will close a loophole, but critics say they open up the possibility of people being sent for trial on the mainland.