Top Judge's Move 'very Biased': Elizabeth Quat

DAB lawmaker Elizabeth Quat says she thinks that Chief Justice Geoffrey Ma's response to a judge's comments on a recent protest-related case shows that the judiciary is "very biased".

She argued that judge Kwok Wai-kin is being excluded from similar cases after some complaints about impartiality, but Ma didn't order such a move when there were complaints regarding other judges.

Quat accused the judiciary of double standards, saying that complaints against other judges simply disappeared "into a blackhole" and never got any response from the judiciary.

"Why only this case is so special? It is because the complaint is coming from the yellow camp, right?" said the lawmaker.

Her DAB colleague Steven Ho had also raised such criticisms at a Legco legal services panel meeting.

Legal sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok, from the Civic Party, criticised the DAB lawmakers for "hurling abuse" at the judiciary.

Kwok, who is also a barrister, called his rivals "ignorant", saying Justice Ma only stated fundamental principles that everyone in the legal sector is familiar with – that the courts have to show and let people feel they handle cases impartially and independently.

Business and Professionals Alliance lawmaker Priscilla Leung, meanwhile, said she agreed with the Chief Justice that judiciary personnel should not express their political stances in a high-profile manner.

Leung, who is a barrister as well, said that to be fair, judges who were against the extradition law should also be removed from relevant cases.

“Three judges who have been reported by newspapers openly that under anonymous spaces they expressed a clear and high profile view on that political issue. And one judge has the name signed in a petition,” she said.

“That has led to concern of the general public. And we hope that the same general principle will apply to those concerned judges also,” she said.

Leung said judges who had previously had a political affiliation should also be "handled", but she didn't elaborate further.