Sawt Falasteen - Nine foreign judges to stay on Hong Kong's top court

Judges from common law jurisdictions are invited to sit as non-permanent members at Hong Kong's top court, which is separate from mainland China's opaque, party-controlled legal system.

UK Supreme Court President Robert Reed and fellow judge Patrick Hodge resigned from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on Wednesday, saying the government had "departed from values of political freedom and freedom of expression".

Nine of the ten remaining overseas judges -- who unlike Reed and Hodge are retired -- have said they will remain, including five from the UK, three from Australia and one from Canada. British judge Robert Walker is yet to declare his decision.

The five British judges who will stay are Leonard Hoffman, Jonathan Sumption, Lawrence Collins and two former presidents of the UK Supreme Court, Nicholas Phillips and David Neuberger.

In a joint statement sent to AFP, the five British judges said they were "entirely satisfied" with the independence and integrity of the Court of Final Appeal.

"At a critical time in the history of Hong Kong, it is more than ever important to support the work of its appellate courts in their task of maintaining the rule of law and reviewing the acts of the executive," they said.

Australian judges William Gummow, Anthony Murray Gleeson and Robert French as well as former Canadian chief justice Beverley McLachlin would also retain their seats.

"We do not intend to resign and we support the judges of the Court of Final Appeal in their commitment to judicial independence," Gummow, Gleeson and French told AFP in a joint statement.

McLachlin also told Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper that said she would remain.

City leader Carrie Lam described the resignations on Thursday as a "political plot" by the British government which has repeatedly criticised China's clampdown in Hong Kong.

"I remain very confident that we still have very fine judges in the judiciary, both local and from overseas. Hong Kong will continue to benefit significantly," she told reporters.

- 'Systematic erosion of liberty' -

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Wednesday that Hong Kong's national security law -- imposed by China in 2020 after months of democracy protests in the city -- had led to a "systematic erosion of liberty and democracy".

Truss added it was "no longer tenable" for serving British judges to sit on Hong Kong's top court, as it would risk "legitimising oppression".

Legal analysts say the remaining British justices could come under pressure to follow Reed and Hodge in stepping down.

"I would be surprised if this very significant step... did not give the others very serious pause for thought," British lawyer Schona Jolly wrote on Twitter.

However because those judges are retired they will have to make up their own minds individually.

China said it "strongly deplored" the resignations, which were also criticised by Hong Kong's two professional legal bodies, the Law Society and the Bar Association.

The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong also hit out at the move.

In a statement it urged remaining foreign judges to stay on saying they "would be greatly valued by our business community".

But local lawyer and former student leader Kenneth Lam said Hong Kong had become a place where "speech can be criminalised, critics of the regime can be jailed, and those awaiting trial can be kept behind bars for years."

"How much of a price must we pay before we are willing to face the fact that Hong Kong, once an international city that respects free speech and personal freedom, has become unrecognisable," he wrote on Facebook.

W.Mansour--SF-PST