The new chairperson of the Hong Kong Bar Association (HKBA) has expressed optimism that new foreign judges would join the city’s top court, even after five left last year, including one who said Hong Kong was “slowly becoming an totalitarian state.”
José-Antonio Maurellet, the new chairperson of the Hong Kong Bar Association. Photo: Three Verulam Buildings Barristers.
José-Antonio Maurellet was elected the new chairperson of the HKBA on Thursday. Addressing reporters after his election, he noted that Hong Kong had six remaining overseas non-permanent judges.
“Even though this… is less than we had before, it does not affect the top court’s work,” he said in Cantonese. “Because of some factors, some judges [left] and finding new judges will be challenging, but we are optimistic and believe that new judges will join.”
Since its establishment in 1997, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (CFA) has sporadically extended invitations to judges from other common law jurisdictions to join its appeal panel.
This practice has been regarded as testament to the international community’s trust in the city’s judicial system, which has helped Hong Kong maintain its reputation and credibility as a global financial and business hub.
Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal, in Central, on August 12, 2024. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.
Last year, the practice was put in the spotlight after a number of overseas judges left. Australian judge Anthony Gleeson did not renew his term after it expired last February. Then, British judges Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption quit in June, with Collins citing “the political situation in Hong Kong” while adding that he continued to have “the fullest confidence in the court.”
In a Financial Times op-ed, Sumption said the city was “once a vibrant and politically diverse community” that was “slowly becoming a totalitarian state.” He wrote of a “growing malaise” among the judiciary and called a Beijing-imposed national security law an “illiberal legislation” that severely curbed the judges’ freedom of action,” prompting Chief Executive John Lee to hit back and defend the city’s legal system.
In the days following the UK judges’ resignations, Canadian judge Beverley McLachlin said she would not renew her term after it expired. British judge Nicholas Phillips also left after completing his term in September.
Lord Jonathan Sumption. Photo: GovHK.
Before Beijing’s security law was enacted in June 2020, Hong Kong had 15 overseas judges.
The election of Maurellet as the HKBA’s chairperson came days after the opening of Hong Kong’s new legal year, which is marked by a speech by the chief justice before the city’s judges.
Cheung also addressed the departure of foreign judges last year, saying the recruitment of overseas jurists had become less “straightforward” due to “geopolitical headwinds.” But he maintained that judicial independence in Hong Kong had not been weakened.
“Judges come and go. But our system is built on legal principles, judicial precedents, and a robust structure that will continue to function. The presence or absence of individual judges, whilst important in its own right, will not undermine the integrity of the system,” he said.
In recent years, Hong Kong has slipped down a global rule of law index, from 16th place in 2020 to 23rd position in 2024.
