'Only Right To Bar Foreign Judges From Some Trials'

Prominent lawyer and National People's Congress deputy Maggie Chan said on Wednesday that it would only be right to ban foreign judges in Hong Kong from presiding over cases involving national security.

This comes after the Reuters news agency quoted people familiar with the matter as saying foreign judges will be blocked from handling national security trials under the new legislation being drawn up in Beijing.

The report has exacerbated concerns over judicial independence in the SAR once the law comes into effect.

But Chan, who earlier proposed setting up a special national security court where cases would only be heard by Chinese judges, rejected such worries.

She said foreign judges or judges with dual nationality must be excluded from national security cases because of conflict of interest concerns, adding that "justice must be seen to be done".

Hong Kong Bar Association vice-chairwoman Anita Yip warned, however, that such a ban would damage the "treasured" image of judicial independence in Hong Kong.

"Judicial independence, as we all know, is one of the cornerstones for the success of Hong Kong. So I think, if this happens, it will have a rather significant adverse impact on Hong Kong," Yip said.

"The image of judicial independence may be compromised."

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung on Wednesday described the reported move regarding foreign judges as nothing but "speculation".