Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung on Saturday said Hong Kong's rule of law and legal system are unaffected after another overseas judge stepped down from the SAR's top court. Cheung’s comments came after Nicholas Phillips, a British non-permanent judge, stepped down from the Court of Final Appeal, making him the fifth overseas non-permanent judge to leave the court this year. Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Cheung said he was aware some overseas judges were facing political pressure from other countries, but he pointed out that some judges also left the SAR for "personal reasons". "The mechanism of [having] overseas judges is quite unique to our system, but it doesn't mean that if you do not have overseas judges you do not have a good rule of law, and you can see from the other examples of other jurisdictions all over the world," he said. "We should recognise that there are very good remarks made by the other serving overseas judges in Hong Kong, by the other judges who just left Hong Kong, they fully recognise the rule of law in Hong Kong, and we must have every confidence in our own rule of law, in our legal system." He added that the Judiciary will continue to look for new overseas judges from different countries, and foreign politicians should not attack Hong Kong's rule of law.
