Western politicians should stop putting “inappropriate pressure” on overseas judges serving in Hong Kong, a deputy minister has said after a third British justice stepped down from the city’s top court in the space of several months.
The call from Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan on Saturday followed the recent departure of Nicholas Addison Phillips, a non-permanent judge who had served on the Court of Final Appeal since 2012.
Phillips is the fifth foreign justice to step down this year.
“In recent years we’ve noticed that some foreign countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom, have exerted inappropriate pressure on our non-permanent judges,” Cheung said.
“There were indeed some non-permanent judges deciding to quit over the past two years due to many different reasons such as personal ones. But they, including the incumbents, all had a high regard and recognition for Hong Kong’s rule of law.
“I hope these overseas politicians stop attacking or attempting to undermine our rule of law.”
