Justice chief defends Hong Kong courts after judicial independence ranking falls for third consecutive year

Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung’s remarks come amid accusations of political motivation behind recent rulings that saw activists jailed and opposition lawmakers disqualified

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Justice chief Rimsky Yuen said he saw no objective elements undermining the independence of the legal system in the past year. Photo: David Wong

Published: 2:45pm, 28 Sep 2017Updated: 11:53pm, 28 Sep 2017

Justice minister Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung put up a strong defence of Hong Kong’s courts on Thursday after the city slipped five places in the judicial independence category of the latest global competitiveness ranking, compiled by the World Economic Forum.

Although the city’s overall competitiveness rose three places to sixth, its judicial independence score, one of a variety of factors used to define competitiveness, dropped from eighth to 13th place. Hong Kong’s rank in this category has fallen for three years in a row.

The report by the Geneva-based non-profit organisation did not give a reason for the drop, but it comes at a sensitive time when local courts have been increasingly accused of being influenced by politics due to recent cases involving the jailing of democracy activists and disqualification of opposition lawmakers.

“Although we fell from No 8 to No 13, I am still fully confident in Hong Kong’s judicial independence,” Yuen said.

Is Hong Kong’s rule of law really under threat?

The justice chief said while the government was concerned about the ranking drop, he saw nothing undermining the independence of the legal system in the past year.

“Judges and judicial staff at all levels in Hong Kong have been handling every single case professionally, dedicatedly and independently,” he said.