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Cases delayed as Hong Kong judiciary struggles to fill vacancies, with pay and proposed sanctions among reasons potential candidates are put off
- Despite proposed pay rise, big earnings gap exists between judges and lawyers in private practice
- US lawmakers’ push for sanctions against city’s legal figures might cast shadow over judicial recruitment, former director of public prosecutions says
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Hong Kong courts are taking longer to get through cases because almost one in four judicial posts are vacant.
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Lawyers told the Post relatively poor pay and the solitary nature of judges’ work had put off applicants and made recruitment harder.
They also warned that possible sanctions against Hong Kong judges proposed by several American lawmakers could add to uncertainty in the recruitment of judicial officials in the future.
Figures show the judiciary had 50 vacancies at the start of November, almost a quarter of the 211 positions available.
There were unfilled posts at all levels, with a higher vacancy rate in the High Court.
The staffing problems meant the average waiting time for a criminal case to be heard in the courts had almost doubled from 187 days in 2018 to 350 days last year.
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