Public Must Hear My Perpetual Truths: Teresa Cheng

Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng said on Wednesday that it is important that the people of Hong Kong listen to the "perpetual truths" she speaks on legal principles, so they can understand how to respect the rule of law.

Cheng said the Department of Justice has a duty to come out and "put the facts right" when individuals and the media misreport matters relating to the judiciary, even though it often can't comment on particular court cases.

"What the Department of Justice, and sometimes through myself as the secretary for justice, have said on the general principles are perpetual truths, they are always correct," she said.

"It is important that the general public hear them so that they can understand how they should be respecting the rule of law and joining hands with the government as well as the legal profession to safeguard the rule of law."

Cheng's comments come after she was asked whether the Chief Magistrate's move on Tuesday to clear a fellow magistrate of being biased against anti-government protesters could enhance public confidence in the judicial system.

The justice secretary said she believed a clear explanation had been provided as to why complaints against Cheang Kei-hong were dismissed, and she hopes that this will help "the public as well as the local and international media to appreciate that we do cherish and safeguard our esteemed judicial independence."

Cheang, an Eastern Court magistrate, was accused of bias over the sentences he handed down in a number of protest-related cases, as well as his comments about those involved in the proceedings.

He had jailed a man who stabbed former lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung for around three months, a graphic designer who hit a policeman with an umbrella for five months, and a student caught with aerosol cans and lighters for 10 months.

But Chief Magistrate Victor So, one of Chief Executive Carrie Lam's handpicked national security judges, said he had found nothing wrong with Cheang's conduct after going through the relevant court proceedings.