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Hong Kong leader’s ‘unusual’ power to choose judges in national security law cases sparks concern among lawyers, lawmakers
- Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes says it would be ‘very odd’ for an official with a stake in the prosecution to also select the judges
- Others suggest legislation should include language requiring the chief executive to consult the city’s chief justice
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Lawyers and opposition politicians have described it as “unusual” that Hong Kong’s leader will have the power to appoint judges to hear trials under the national security legislation Beijing is creating for the city, questioning whether there will still be impartiality in such cases.
But some academics and politicians described the proposal as a compromise amid mounting voices from the pro-establishment bloc that foreign judges in Hong Kong should be banned from handling national security cases that could involve other countries.
During the latest three-day meeting of China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, which ended on Saturday, members further discussed the draft legislation to prohibit secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with external forces in Hong Kong.
Among the most controversial details of the impending law that emerged on Saturday was a new power to be given to the Hong Kong leader to designate incumbent or former judges to handle national security cases.
Hong Kong Bar Association chairman Philip Dykes said such a rule was “unusual”.
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