[ad_1]
HONG KONG / SYDNEY: One of the 14 foreign judges at Hong Kong’s highest court said he had resigned due to concerns over a comprehensive new national security law imposed by Beijing on the former British colony, the Hong Kong national broadcaster reported. Australia on Friday (September 18).
The office of city leader Carrie Lam confirmed the resignation of Australian Judge James Spigelman, but did not give a reason.
Spigelman, a former Chief Justice of New South Wales, is the first senior judge to resign and publicly criticize the law passed by the Chinese Parliament.
The Polish-born jurist told ABC that he resigned for reasons “related to the content of national security legislation,” but did not elaborate.
Spigelman did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
His departure comes amid alarm in local and international legal circles over Beijing’s imposition of a national security law on the free financial center, which has an independent legal system based on common law.
Under security legislation, Lam has the right to select judges for a panel of jurists to handle national security cases. In the most serious cases, suspects can also be brought to mainland China to be tried in its courts, which are ultimately controlled by the Communist Party.
“Judge Spigelman submitted to the executive director on September 2 his resignation as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal, for which the executive director revoked his appointment in accordance with the relevant legislation,” Lam’s office replied in an email. email to inquiries. about his departure.
“Judge Spigelman gave no reason for his resignation,” he said. A spokesman for the judiciary said they had no further comment to offer.
Spigelman was re-elected for another three-year term in the Hong Kong court last year.
Foreign judges have long been considered a symbol of Hong Kong’s judicial independence, helping to replace the traditional role of the Privy Council in London after Britain returned the city to Chinese rule in 1997.
