Legal Bodies Welcome Naming Of New Chief Justice

Hong Kong's two professional legal bodies, and the sitting Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma on Tuesday welcomed the Chief Executive’s appointment of Court of Final Appeal judge Andrew Cheung as the city's next top judge.

Ma told reporters he believes Cheung would be an "outstanding" chief justice, who will continue to defend the rule of law in Hong Kong and protect the territory’s judicial independence.

Cheung’s leadership, Ma said, will ensure that the people’s rights and freedoms will continue to be safeguarded.

Ma is retiring next January when he turns 65 after more than a decade as chief justice.

The Bar Association said in a statement that Cheung “commands the respect of the Bar”, adding that it’s “confident that Mr Justice Cheung will capably discharge the duties of chief justice in accordance with the requirements of the Basic Law.”

The Law Society echoed its approval.

Its president, Melissa Pang, said with three decades of experience in the field – mostly as judges in various capacities within the judiciary – Cheung is greatly respected, and she believes he will be up to the job

She added that Cheung’s experience as a member of an information technology panel under the top court would be valuable in bringing a much-needed technical revamp to the courts, and bring the judiciary into the 21st century.

However, legal sector legislator Dennis Kwok said despite Cheung’s wealth of experience, there are concerns over some of his rulings – particularly his rejection as chief high court judge of an appeal by two disqualified Youngspiration lawmakers over an oath-taking scandal in 2016.

Kwok said Cheung had accepted without question an interpretation of the Basic Law handed down by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC), and declared that common law principles were irrelevant to the discussion.

This, he said, is a cause for concern.

“If my worry comes true that the next interpretation of the Basic Law by the NPCSC fundamentally tramples upon the common law and the human rights as protected under the Basic Law and our freedom, are the judges simply going to accept [this]? If so, then that would be a huge challenge to the rule of law as we know it”, Kwok said.

Kwok also lashed out at the Chief Executive for publicly pressuring him – as the presiding officer of Legco’s paralysed House Committee – to quickly get its affairs in order and approve Cheung’s appointment before the summer recess in July to ensure a smooth handover.

Opposition lawmakers have been filibustering House Committee proceedings for months, such that a chairman hasn’t even been successfully elected yet.

But Kwok said Lam is wrong to use Cheung’s appointment as some kind of political currency.

“Political problems are political problems”, he said. “You can’t throw in an appointment of the chief justice hoping that will solve the problem for you. To do so, you are politicising a judicial appointment for your own political benefit.”

He further defended the logjam in the influential committee, saying the impasse stems from peoples’ concern that the government will try to railroad controversial laws, like national security legislation, through the council if resistance crumbles.

But DAB lawmaker Holden Chow backed the CE, saying the reputation of the judicial system would be harmed if Legco can't approve Andrew Cheung's appointment by July.

He says the pan-democrats shouldn't politicise the appointment, and end the filibustering at House Committee.