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Willa Wu

Yuanyue Dang

The recent departure of several overseas judges from Hong Kong’s top court was “only natural” as those in the first batch appointed nearly three decades ago are already aged 80 years or older, a former justice chief has said.
Elsie Leung Oi-sie, the first secretary for justice after Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, when the judges joined the court, also said on Monday that the city should look into cultivating judicial talent locally to reduce reliance on outsiders.
Leung, who previously served as a deputy director of the Basic Law Committee, also urged Hong Kong legislators to improve their standards, noting that many “political novices” of varying levels of ability had emerged following Beijing’s “patriots-only” electoral overhaul.
She was speaking at a legal forum in Beijing organised by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which centred on the national security law Beijing imposed on Hong Kong nearly five years ago in the wake of months of anti-government protests.

Leung accused some foreign forces of smearing Hong Kong’s judicial system by targeting the national security law as well as its domestic counterpart, the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, enacted in March last year.
“Some foreign governments have also pressured their overseas non-permanent judges serving on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal to leave their posts, attempting to demonstrate a regression in the city’s rule of law,” she said.
But Leung argued that “clear-minded people” would understand that many of the overseas non-permanent judges appointed when the city returned to Chinese rule 28 years ago were aged 80 to 90.
“This makes the judicial turnover perfectly normal,” she said, adding that overseas judges had also been appointed following the national security law’s imposition on the city.
“But in the future, it is worth looking into how to cultivate local judicial talent and reduce dependence on external assistance.”
The involvement of foreign non-permanent judges in Hong Kong has become a subject of controversy in recent years after a series of resignations following the implementation of the national security law in 2020, which drew criticism and sanctions from the West.
Australian Robert French, 78, who resigned from the top court in March, was the sixth foreign judge to step down over the past year. He had said he observed that the role of non-permanent justices had “become increasingly anachronistic and arguably cosmetic”.
New Zealander William Young, 73, became the first foreign non-permanent justice to join the top court in over a year, starting his term this month.

Leung, meanwhile, stressed the need for politicians to brush up their performance as “political novices” had emerged after Beijing overhauled the city’s electoral system to ensure only “patriots” held political power.
Appropriate training should be provided to political talent and legislators to improve their standards and ensure they were dedicated to their duties, she said.
“The democratic system of Hong Kong should continue to progress,” Leung added, citing a white paper published by Beijing in 2021 which said it would improve democracy in Hong Kong in line with its realities.
Wang Zhenmin, former legal head of the central government’s liaison office in Hong Kong, told the forum that the city had dutifully enforced the national security law without wronging anyone, making the legislation “powerful yet moderate”.
“In the past five years, only 76 people have been convicted and sentenced under the law. Isn’t that a very small number?” said Wang, now a professor at Tsinghua University’s law school in Beijing.
Describing the legislation as a “targeted tool” for only a small number of individuals, Wang added that the law was the “Chinese solution” provided to the Global South in response to “colour revolutions instigated by some major Western powers”.
Beijing imposed the national security law on Hong Kong in June 2020 as its response to the months-long anti-government protests that rocked the city the year before. It outlaws acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and interference with foreign forces.


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Overseas judges leaving top Hong Kong court ‘only natural’: ex-justice chief

Foreign justices have been appointed to the Court of Final Appeal since 1997. Photo: Sam Tsang

Former Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung says judicial turnover is “perfectly normal”, Photo: Dickson Lee

William Young is the first foreign non-permanent justice to join the top court in over a year. Photo: Getty Images

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William Young will join five other overseas non-permanent justices from common law jurisdictions at the Court of Final Appeal. Photo: Getty Images

In March, Australian Robert French, a non-permanent justice of Hong Kong’s apex court since 2017, became the sixth foreign judge to step down over the past year. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Hong Kong introduced its domestic national security law earlier this year. Photo: Sam Tsang

Former justice minister Elsie Leung has urged the city to maintain its role as an international arbitration centre. Photo: Dickson Lee

New Zealand justice set to join Hong Kong’s top court as non-permanent judge

A New Zealand justice will serve as a non-permanent judge at the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong following his endorsement. Photo: AFP

William Young carries out the ceremonial inspection of the guard in Wellington, New Zealand, in 2018. Photo: Getty Images

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The city will be left with seven overseas non-permanent judges after the summer. Photo: Sam Tsang

Jonathan Sumption (left) and Lawrence Collins have quit as non-permanent judges of Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal. Photos: HKCFA / UK Parliament / SCMP Composite

Judges from other common law jurisdictions can be invited to sit on the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong as needed. Photo: Jelly Tse

Last year, retired Australian justice Patrick Keane became the first overseas judge to be appointed to the city’s Court of Final Appeal since the 2022 departures. Photo: Handout

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Former secretary for justice Elsie Leung says first batch of overseas judges appointed to Court of Final Appeal in 1997 are aged 80 to 90


Former secretary for justice Elsie Leung says first batch of overseas judges appointed to Court of Final Appeal in 1997 are aged 80 to 90.


Overseas judges leaving top Hong Kong court ‘only natural’: ex-justice chief

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Former secretary for justice Elsie Leung says first batch of overseas judges appointed to Court of Final Appeal in 1997 are aged 80 to 90

Former secretary for justice Elsie Leung says first batch of overseas judges appointed to Court of Final Appeal in 1997 are aged 80 to 90