British judges withdrawn from Hong Kong’s top court over new security law

A pro-democracy activist holds a yellow umbrella in front of a police line in Hong Kong
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Daniel Keane30 March 2022

British judges will be withdrawn from serving in Hong Kong’s court of final appeal as the Chinese government tightens its grip on the city’s freedoms.

Foreign secretary Liz Truss said it was “no longer tenable” for serving UK judges to sit in Hong Kong’s top court due to the erosion of human rights and democratic freedoms.

It follows the imposition of the national security law by President Xi Jinping’s government in 2020, which sparked mass protests in the city. Though it still retains individual judicial powers, Beijing has sought to bring the region under its control in the past five years.

British judges have served in Hong Kong’s judiciary since the territory was returned in 1997, but the Foreign Office argued that China had used the legislation “to undermine the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Hong Kong”.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the security law constituted a breach of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration that paved the way for the handover.

Ms Truss said: "We have seen a systematic erosion of liberty and democracy in Hong Kong.

"Since the national security law was imposed, authorities have cracked down on free speech, the free press and free association.

"The situation has reached a tipping point where it is no longer tenable for British judges to sit on Hong Kong's leading court, and would risk legitimising oppression.

"I welcome and wholeheartedly support the decision to withdraw British judges from the court."

Two senior British judges, including the president of the UK Supreme Court, submitted their resignation on Wednesday.

Robert Reed, who heads Britain’s top judicial body, said he and fellow judge Patrick Hodge, would leave their roles as non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA).

A string of pro-democracy activists have been sentenced in Hong Kong’s courts since the passing of the law.

Jimmy Lai, a media tycoon and Beijing critic, was handed a prison sentence last year after pleaded guilty in District Court to organising an unauthorised assembly. He had already been imprisoned for participating in demonstrations on August 18 and August 31, 2019.

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