Once again, Hong Kong scored higher on the global legal index than many western countries. But our legal sector is under international attack, warned Grenville Cross, in this extract from this 14 March 2025 speech he gave to undergraduate lawyers at Chinese University of Hong Kong.
OUR CITY FACES existential threats to its rule of law, which are a concern for everybody in the legal profession, and for anybody planning to join it.
On 24 January, US Representatives Young Kim and Jim McGovern introduced the Hong Kong Sanctions Act into the US Congress. If passed, it will require the US president to decide if particular Hong Kong legal officials should be sanctioned for alleged human rights violations arising from their involvement in implementing the Hong Kong National Security Law 2020 (NSL).
The Bill specifically targets 29 judges and magistrates (including the chief justice and five HKCFA judges), 16 prosecutors (including the secretary for justice and the director of public prosecutions), and even a barrister in private practice who prosecuted cases on behalf of the Department of Justice.
If, as seems likely, the Bill is passed by Congress, it will then be up to President Donald Trump to decide whether to sign it into law, and the possibility that he will do so cannot be excluded (always remembering that in 2020 he authorized sanctions against Hong Kong officials following the NSL’s enactment).
STAND UP FOR THE JUDICIARY
On 20 January, at the opening of the legal year, the chief justice, Andrew Cheung Kui-nung, called on the legal profession to stand up for its judiciary, and do all it can to protect the rule of law. The Hong Kong Bar Association and the Law Society of Hong Kong have both been strident supporters of our independent judiciary, but they can only do so much.
We are fortunate to have a brave, experienced and professional judiciary. It always remains true to its judicial oath, which is to “safeguard the law and administer justice without fear or favor, self-interest or deceit.” No matter how great the intimidation they may face, we can rely upon our judges not to buckle, and to remain true to their calling. Nonetheless, many of the judges must be appalled at the situation in which they find themselves, and some potential judges might even be deterred from going to the bench.
If anybody here is tempted to think: “What is all this to do with us? We are still students,” then they should think again. Everybody who loves Hong Kong, young or old, and particularly if they practice law or intend to do so, must support the rule of law whenever it is challenged in whatever way they can. They can do this, for example, in speeches, in exchanges with counterparts and friends elsewhere, on overseas trips, and through the written word. The message that the rule of law is alive and well in Hong Kong is one that China’s antagonists do not want to hear, but if we all speak loudly enough they will have to listen.
Let it never be said that when Hong Kong’s legal system was under threat its people turned away, either because they thought it was none of their business or because they did not want to get involved. If our legal system is undermined, everybody will suffer and the country will be weakened. Therefore, people who cherish the rule of law must never be afraid to stand up and be counted, and that includes undergraduates.
THE FOREIGN JUDGE WHO STOOD WITH HONG KONG
One foreign judge who appreciates this is Lord (David) Neuberger, about whom law students should know more. He was previously the president of the UK Supreme Court (2012-17). Having been appointed in 2009, he is currently one of the six overseas judges sitting as nonpermanent judges of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA). In 2022, when two of his fellow British judges resigned from the HKCFA, following political pressure from the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss (which the former governor, Chris Patten, denounced), he refused to follow suit. He said he would continue “to support the rule of law in Hong Kong, as best I can,” and he has remained steadfast in his support of the city ever since.
In 2014, as the constitutionalists among you may know, the central authorities issued a white paper dealing with the “one country, two systems” governing policy in Hong Kong. It stressed Beijing’s comprehensive jurisdiction over Hong Kong, emphasizing that the people who governed Hong Kong “should above all be patriotic.” Its officials, moreover, including judges, were expected to love the country. Although this was wholly legitimate, China’s critics sensationalized the white paper, claiming it threatened judicial independence, but Lord Neuberger set the record straight.
When asked if he was concerned by the white paper, he replied not. He explained that judicial independence was not inconsistent with judicial patriotism. He said that, having taken an oath of allegiance to the Hong Kong SAR, “the way in which judges demonstrate their patriotism is by an irrevocable and undiluted commitment to the rule of law,” which is as true now as it was in 2014.
Lord Neuberger is perhaps the most eminent of the HKCFA’s overseas judges, and exemplifies what a great jurist should be. As he once explained, “the rule of law is fundamental to any civilized society, and that is never more true than in challenging times.” As some of you may know, his judgments are impeccable, and invariably the last word on the subject. He is principled, professional and wise, and has refused to be intimidated by lesser mortals.
After Chris Patten (and others) criticized a judgment concerning unauthorized assemblies to which Lord Neuberger was a party last year as “unjust,” he faced pressure in his homeland to resign from the HKCFA. However, he once again refused to be bullied, but nonetheless resigned as chairman of The High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom, an international advisory body. That was “because of concern expressed about my position as a nonpermanent judge in Hong Kong.” Therefore, when forced to make a choice, he resigned from the Panel and not the HKCFA, which showed the depth of his commitment to our city. Everybody here tonight should be inspired by his example.
Although I have never met Lord Neuberger, we can all take comfort from the knowledge that as long as Hong Kong has judges of his quality at the apex of its legal system, there is absolutely no need for anybody to worry about the future of the rule of law.
And it is precisely because of the high quality of the local and overseas judges on the HKCFA, the excellence of the legal profession and the standards of the public lawyers, that the rule of law has flourished, and you do not need to take my word for it.
GOOD SCORE IN GLOBAL RANKING
On 23 October, the 2024 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index was published, and Hong Kong was ranked 23rd out of the 142 jurisdictions surveyed. Indeed, Hong Kong was rated more highly than many Western countries, including the United States (26th), Portugal (28th), Malta (30th), Italy (32nd), and Greece (47th).
This was no mean feat, given the calumnies our legal system has faced in recent times, and we can all take pride in our city’s ranking. After all, the US-based World Justice Project is an independent, nonprofit organization, and the world’s leading source of independent rule of law data. However, if high ratings like this are to be maintained in the years ahead, everybody must protect our legal system, and law students should play their full part.
The author is a senior counsel and law professor. Previously the director of public prosecutions of the Hong Kong government, he has become a popular writer on east-west relations
For more of his writings, click here.
Image at the top by fridayeveryday.