Magistrate Cleared Over Political Bias Complaints

Tuen Mun magistrate Kelly Shui has been cleared of allegations that she was politically biased towards an anti-government protester.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the judiciary said complaints had been filed against Shui when she put a 15-year-old boy on probation in May, after he pleaded guilty to arson and possessing materials with intent to damage property.

The boy admitted throwing three petrol bombs to test them out in Yuen Long in January.

The statement noted that the Department of Justice had asked the Court of Appeal to review what prosecutors called an inadequate sentence.

The appeal court agreed with the department that the magistrate’s sentencing was wrong in principle and sent the boy to a detention centre instead.

The judiciary said the chief magistrate had looked into the complaints against Shui, and had read the records of both the magistrate’s reasons for the sentence and the appeal court’s decision.

The complaints said the magistrate made some biased comments, like the defendant was a “fine kid” and “full of passion”, and that the lenient sentence given would cause the public to misunderstand that violent acts are to be encouraged.

The chief magistrate ruled that while Shui’s remark was not appropriate, she did not express any view “that indicates a political inclination or gives rise to a perception of apparent bias”.

Legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok said the case against the magistrate shows that the complaints mechanism works well, and is open and transparent.

“People are free to complain about certain judicial decisions or judgements, but they should do so on the basis of the ruling itself, and base their criticism on the objectiveness of the various features of the decisions and the judgements in question,” he said.

“They really should not go for personal attacks against any of the judges,” said Kwok, adding this applies not only to the pro-establishment camp but also the pro-democracy camp and people of different political stances.

But DAB lawmakers said the findings did nothing to quell public concerns about perceived bias in the judiciary.

Elizabeth Quat said the judiciary shouldn't have carried out the investigation itself, and it needs to be monitored by a new independent body.

Meanwhile, Holden Chow said the probe shows the need for magistrates to refrain from making biased remarks in their rulings – particularly when it comes to protest-related cases.

“I do notice that the chief magistrate also believed that the comment made by madam Shiu in the subject case, even if it’s not being biased, but still [was] perceived to be lacking impartiality,” said Chow.

“So, I think the judiciary ... should be cautious in the future, [and] all magistrates should avoid giving similar comments when handing down their verdicts,” he said.