Hong Kong Bar chief warns against applying ‘political lenses’ to court rulings

The head of the Hong Kong Bar Association has called on the public not to apply “political lenses” to court rulings, following several high-profile national security cases that have put the spotlight on the city’s rule of law.

Senior Counsel Jose-Antonio Maurellet, who was re-elected uncontested for a second term to helm the professional body on Thursday, also expressed full confidence in the city’s judicial independence.

Maurellet said that amid heightened geopolitical tensions, national security cases in particular had drawn attention, queries and even criticism in recent years, including whether the convictions were politically motivated.

“Such accusations against the judiciary and individual judges or legal representatives of the parties, whether for the prosecution or for the defence, constitute an attack on the entire system of the administration of justice, which appears to become increasingly frequent,” he said.

“It is hoped the public will not apply political lenses to the court’s judgment or the state of the rule of law, and that the judiciary will be permitted to fulfil its judicial function, with courts continuing to adjudicate cases independently and impartially based only on the law and evidence.”

He said the Bar Association was fully confident that the courts would not consider factors other than legal and evidential ones when adjudicating cases heard before them.

At the opening of the legal year on Monday, Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung declared that Hong Kong’s rule of law was “more robust and enduring than the outcome of any single case” after former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was found guilty in a landmark national security case that drew international scrutiny and criticism.