1 week Ago By Lisa Visentin
Former High Court of Australia chief justice Robert French has quit Hong Kong’s top court, becoming the latest in a string of foreign judges to resign from the bench after Beijing’s national security crackdown. French had been one of four Australian judges to continue serving as non-permanent judges on Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in the face of heavy criticism from supporters of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement who argued they were legitimising a broken legal system. In a statement, French said he maintained respect for the Hong Kong judiciary and the role of overseas judges, and endorsed their “integrity and independence”.
Former High Court of Australia judge Robert French has quit his role as an overseas judge on Hong Kong’s top court. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen “I reject the proposition that they are somehow complicit in the application by the executive of national security laws or somehow confer on them a spurious legitimacy,” he said. “There will no doubt be future cases in which their interpretation and application will come before the court.
” Loading He said he believed the role of foreign judges had “become increasingly anachronistic and arguably cosmetic” and suggested there may be a future role for them as part of an international commercial court in Hong Kong. “Hong Kong is the only part of China that can appoint foreign judges to its courts,” he said. As recently as November, French defended his decision to remain on the court, telling this masthead that he continued to “independently assess the risks and benefits for the rule of law in Hong Kong of my membership of the CFA”.
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