Skip to content Skip to sidebar Skip to footer

Henry Litton

18 articles published

Golf controversy leaves the law stranded in the bunker

A decision to use a section of Hong Kong's best-known golf course for much-needed public housing became a major controversy. The necessary environmental impact assessment was misunderstood as a referendum on the public housing project, leading to widespread confusion, reports retired judge Henry Litton. The government’s proposal to take over a portion of the Fanling…

January 16, 20250Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News Opinion

When Hong Kong’s leader was wrongfully jailed as a criminal

It was a shocking turn of affairs. A respected former leader of Hong Kong was relentlessly pursued by lawyers and eventually thrown in jail as a criminal – before further examination established that he was not guilty of anything and had been wrongly imprisoned. It was a long nightmare for Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, a popular…

January 10, 20250Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News Opinion

When lawyers decided to bring down Hong Kong’s Chief Executive

One of the signs that Hong Kong has a world-class legal system is the way judiciary and government often disagree on outcomes. That shows healthy independence. But there have been cases in which people in the city's legal sector, using taxpayer legal aid money, attack the Chief Executive to create political theatre and hurt our…

January 2, 20250Comments ByHenry Litton

Features Opinion

Rogue Elephant and Tethered Goat: a fable

Hong Kong's judicial system has become so soft that an opinion expressed by a member of the public can grow into what seems to be an actual court hearing, when it is no such thing. Top legal specialist Henry Litton reviews a recent example. THE RULE OF LAW in Hong Kong is a structured…

October 30, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News News Opinion

CFA’s ‘Elephant in the room’

The journey taken by the prosecution relating to a famous illegal march in August 2019 has been bizarre, reports Henry Litton. THE FINAL DETERMINATION in the Court of Final Appeal ( CFA ) of the case arising from the so-called “818 Procession” is both bizarre and disturbing. The case was founded on hard facts and clear criminality, yet…

October 2, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News Opinion

Tyranny of ideology: words are too elastic in same-sex marriage legislation

A look back at two pivotal same-sex marriage cases in Hong Kong show a lack of evidence, and a worrying elevation of imported European views over this community's own values, says senior legal mind Henry Litton. “Where Law Ends, Tyranny Begins”. This sentence (carved in stone over the entrance to the Capitol Building in Des…

April 11, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News News Opinion

Shortage of judges in Hong Kong may be self-inflicted

THERE IS AN ACUTE shortage of High Court judges in Hong Kong. The recent recruitment exercise yielded only four appointments, leaving still a number of vacancies unfilled. Can it be that the problem is largely internal? Self-afflicted? What if the culture within the judiciary were to change, and judges learn to act in a focussed…

March 14, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

China news

Legal puzzle: Cases are being filed by people with nothing to gain

Courts function best when genuine cases are filed, logical decisions are made, and clear, concise judgments are issued. But the Hong Kong legal system has unfortunately caught a worrying habit associated with the west’s human rights industry: the appearance of “confected” (elaborately constructed) cases or judicial reviews based on a legal point that is not…

February 18, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News Opinion

Agitators have been making needless trouble in Hong Kong legal sector

As an international business center, Hong Kong needs a world-class legal system, based on clearly expressed legislation and precedents. But in recent years, its flexibility has been exploited by people who file muddled, complex, mega-lengthy cases—often ones that don’t even involve them. Some of these come across as thinly disguised political grandstanding. Absurd complaints over…

February 8, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

Hong Kong News Opinion

Same-sex couple in Hong Kong had a tortuous road to justice

People with the right to work in modern cities can legally get a dependant’s visa for their spouses. Whether it is a heterosexual couple or a same-sex couple makes no difference. Yet Hong Kong’s immigration chief rejected a woman’s application for her female partner, triggering a legal debate on discrimination and human rights that was…

January 21, 20240Comments ByHenry Litton

Henry Litton

Golf controversy leaves the law stranded in the bunker

When Hong Kong’s leader was wrongfully jailed as a criminal

When lawyers decided to bring down Hong Kong’s Chief Executive

Rogue Elephant and Tethered Goat: a fable

CFA’s ‘Elephant in the room’

Tyranny of ideology: words are too elastic in same-sex marriage legislation

Shortage of judges in Hong Kong may be self-inflicted

Legal puzzle: Cases are being filed by people with nothing to gain

Agitators have been making needless trouble in Hong Kong legal sector

Same-sex couple in Hong Kong had a tortuous road to justice

Can Europe dare to do the smart thing, and partner with China in Africa?

Australia’s government lives in a Pentagon-penned fiction of US primacy

How the HK Bar Association lost its way – and was guided back on track