Hong Kong Watch calls on foreign judges to withdraw and UK Government to impose sanctions, following Beijing’s ruling on Hong Kong lawyers

The Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) has today destroyed any remaining vestiges of judicial independence in Hong Kong, in an interpretation of Hong Kong’s National Security Law which gives the Chief Executive of Hong Kong the power to overturn court decisions and ban foreign lawyers.

The NPC’s Standing Committee ruled that articles 14 and 47 of the National Security Law allow Hong Kong’s Chief Executive to decide unilaterally which lawyers are permitted to represent defendants, and to choose the judges to preside over cases. It also empowers the National Security Committee to overrule judicial decisions.

In response to this interpretation, Hong Kong Watch urges all remaining foreign judges to withdraw from Hong Kong and urges the UK Foreign Secretary to impose immediate targeted sanctions.

Hong Kong Watch’s Chief Executive Benedict Rogers said:

“This interpretation by Beijing completely destroys the final threads of judicial independence in Hong Kong. To have a situation whereby some foreign judges continue to sit in Hong Kong cases while foreign lawyers may be barred from representing defendants is absurd, and therefore those remaining foreign judges should now collectively withdraw from Hong Kong. They cannot continue to legitimise a system that has lost all legitimacy.

“In addition, we urge the UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to immediately sanction members of Hong Kong’s National Security Committee, and the Chief Executive John Lee. 

“We also call on the UK Justice Secretary Dominic Raab to issue a statement setting out the UK Government’s response from a legal standpoint, including stating what protections the UK will offer for UK lawyers who may be affected by this interpretation.

“Furthermore, we urge the remaining European Union member states which still have extradition agreements with Hong Kong or China to suspend them without delay.

“Today Beijing has driven a dagger through the heart of Hong Kong’s legal system. The international community cannot allow this to occur without response and without consequences. Beijing has torn to shreds the Sino-British Joint Declaration, and it must not be allowed to do so with impunity.”