Wednesday, 15 Apr 2020 09:41 PM MYTHONG KONG, April 14 —The independence of Hong Kong’s judicial system is under assault from the Communist Party leadership in Beijing, senior judges in the city told Reuters, posing the gravest threat to the rule of law since Britain handed its former colony back to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
As Ma finished, said three witnesses, a representative from AllBright Law Offices, a leading mainland Chinese legal firm that co-sponsored the lunch event, rushed to the podium to object to what he said was a “political” speech by the chief justice. Amid gasps and snorts of derision, the man was escorted from the microphone, the witnesses said. AllBright did not respond to questions.
The demonstrators have occasionally focused their anger on the courts, which are handling the cases of thousands of protesters who face criminal charges. Late last year, some demonstrators lobbed petrol bombs outside the entrance to the Court of Final Appeal and the High Court building. “Since taking office in 2010, the Chief Justice has not at any stage encountered or experienced any form of interference by the mainland authorities with judicial independence in Hong Kong, including the appointment of judges,” the statement said. “Judicial independence is guaranteed under the Basic Law and is a main component of the rule of law in Hong Kong.”
But the Basic Law contains a caveat: Ultimately, the rulings of Hong Kong’s top court, the Court of Final Appeal, can be re-interpreted by the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament. Beijing last used that power in late 2016 to effectively bar several pro-democracy lawmakers from taking office. The three judges who spoke to Reuters said they feared China would begin to wield this power more frequently, potentially undermining the city’s courts.
China’s leaders have made their expectations of Hong Kong clear. Last year in Beijing, Vice Premier Han Zheng publicly told the city’s chief executive, Carrie Lam, that stopping the violence was the “common responsibility” of her government, the legislature and the judiciary. In so saying, Han blurred the lines of Hong Kong’s separation of powers - a check on the state that doesn’t exist on the mainland.
Some in Hong Kong believe Beijing will struggle to bring the city’s judicial system to heel. “The roots of the common law run deep in Hong Kong and will not be easily uprooted, so I think China can only ultimately take a gradual approach, despite the rhetoric,” said Simon Young, a barrister and professor at the University of Hong Kong’s law school. “Those values are entrenched through the system.”
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