Hong Kong pro-Beijing lawmakers are involved in the judicial appointment

Pro-Beijing lawmakers have successfully intervened for the first time in a high-ranking judicial appointment in Hong Kong, when lawyers said it was the latest attack on the city’s beloved independent legal system.

Judge Maria Yuen, the wife of Geoffrey Ma, the city’s former chief justice, said two people who knew the facts should be appointed the next permanent judge of Hong Kong’s last appellate court.

People said he withdrew his candidacy for the city’s high court after lawmakers expressed concern over the appointment. Lawmakers argued that Yuen could have been influenced by her husband, who in the past criticized pro-Beijing elements after defending the neutrality of Hong Kong justice, according to a person who knows their thinking.

The move came Beijing has cracked down on repression About civil and political organizations in Hong Kong in the face of protests against the government in 2019, arresting pro-democracy activists, politicians and media people.

China has not yet made any significant changes to Hong Kong’s common law legal system. But any such move would do concerns international companies, many of whom have established regional residences in the city in part because of its independent judiciary.

Yuen’s appointment was recommended last year by the Judicial Officers ’Recommendation Committee, a semi-independent body that considers Hong Kong judicial charges, and was expected to be approved by Carrie Lam, the city’s chief executive, said two people familiar with the incident.

The de facto parliament in Hong Kong, the Parliamentary Council, must ratify the candidate for chief executive for higher judicial positions. In the past, this step was seen as a formality.

But before Yuen’s recommendation was finalized and formally submitted for ratification to the legislature, Beijing-based lawmakers Holden Chow and Elizabeth Quat, among others, expressed concern.

The jury for the administration of justice and legal services, which is dominated by pro-Beijing lawmakers, asked the judiciary and government officials to discuss the appointment.

In addition to preventing Ma from continuing to influence Ma in court, lawmakers also said it took her a long time to make judgments, according to a person who knows her thinking.

The politician’s interrogation led Yuen to withdraw his appointment, according to two people who knew the facts, the first known case of its kind. Yuen addressed all requests for comment on the incident to the judiciary, but declined to comment.

The commission has then selected another judge to be appointed, Johnson Lam.

The insiders said Lam did not see his judgments as more conservative or liberal than Yuen, nor did the legislators prove that in Yuen’s case they acted on Beijing’s orders.

High-ranking legal entities were concerned that the Yuen case could be a precedent for the Council of Parliament, which is dominated by pro-Beijing politicians, to formally review judicial appointments. This, in turn, could undermine the authority of the Judicial Appointments Commission in the JORC.

A senior legal person said the political review of the appointments could lead to judges choosing based on their loyalty to Beijing and their abilities. avoid the best candidates from coming forward.

Johannes Chan, a wise lawyer at the University of Hong Kong, said the Yuen affair is “a very bad and worrying development for judicial independence.”

“The Ac provides a channel for political interference in the appointment of key judicial staff [legislature] that’s dominated by pro-Beijing politicians, ”Chan said.

Critics said the government’s decision was made last year appoint separate judges in fact, cases related to the national security law, which entered the territory after Beijing protested last year, have already hurt perceptions of judicial independence.

Trial of Tong Ying-kit charged in the first person under the security law, it will begin Wednesday before those judges.

Lawmakers Chow and Quat declined to comment on the Yuen case. Carrie Lam wanted to resign but said: “All appointments of chief executive officers are made in accordance with the Basic Law,” the territorial mini-constitution.

Geoffrey Ma declined to comment.

Horace Cheung, chairman of the jury for the administration of justice and legal services, said he had contacted the government and the judiciary “for preliminary opinions… On the issues raised by his panel members in the nomination process.